“Oil Supplies Decrease Is Critical For Belarus”

The expert has told about the disturbing trends at the oil market.

The supplies of the Russian oil to Belarus decreased by 20,3% in 2016 - to 18,148 million tons.

According to the data published by the Belarusian Statistical Committee last November, in January-October 2016, the decline in the amounts of production made by the Belarusian refineries reached a record of 11,4%.

In December, Reuters reported that in 2017 the total volume of crude oil supplies to Belarus was planned to reach 18 million tons.

The "Liberal Club" expert Anton Baltochka has said in an express comment to Solidarity how the reduction of oil supplies may affect the Belarusian economy.

— Today, the oil products that we develop or recycle of the Russian oil remain one of the sources of the foreign currency earnings for the country, — the expert has reminded. — Accordingly, the reduction in the supply of raw materials, of which we generate oil products to supply the EU, will certainly affect the budget revenues both through taxes and export duties, which are accrued to us under the terms of the Belarusian-Russian agreements as for the deliveries of energy products to the European market.

The interviewee has said that the exact amount of foregone benefits from the reduced supplies will be known closer to March, when the official statistics on foreign trade is published.

— So far, we can estimate that we found ourselves short of several hundred million dollars, which is quite critical in the current situation, taking into account the need to pay the external debt, — the expert has said.

The expert has added that the fact that, contrary to the established practice, Minsk and Moscow have agreed on the volume of oil supplies to the end of the calendar year, adds uncertainty.

We remind that the export of oil products from Belarus decreased by several billion in 2016 — by 38%.