Belarus refuses to supply petrol to Russia under agreement

Russia may cut duty-free oil shipments to Belarus in response.

Russia's newspaper Vedomosti learnt about a new conflict between Minsk and Moscow from three federal officials and a source close to the negotiations. Moscow has been delivering oil to Belarus at Russia's domestic prices during the past few years, while Belarus has been delivering oil products to Russia. The amount of supplies is agreed annually. The plans for 2015 were 23 million tonnes and 1.8 million tonnes respectively.

A Belarusian delegation visited Moscow last week to meet with minister of energy Alexander Novak and deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich. According one of the sources, Belarusian deputy prime minister Uladzimir Siamashka was a member of the delegation. The sources, however, don't know if all planned meetings were held. “Belarusians will return on Monday, and the talks will continue,” one of the officials said. Representatives of Dvorkovich and the Ministry of Energy do not comment on the talks; the press service of the Belarusian government didn't reply to a request.

Belarus wants to get 5.7 million tonnes of oil in the second quarter, a participant of the talk says. The schedule for the second quarter was signed on Friday, a representative of the Ministry of Energy says.