Talks failed

The deputy prime minsters of Belarus and Russia had a meeting in Moscow.

The information was received from Belarus's embassy to Russia.

“First deputy prime minister of Belarus Uladzimir Syamashka and deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation Arkady Dvorkovch had a scheduled meeting on March 11, 2013. Representatives of the interested ministries and governmental bodies of Belarus took part in the meeting.

“The parties discussed cooperation in the energy sector, prospects for  development of cooperation and joint projects in industry. The progress in implementing the agreements reached during the recent visit of Arkady Dvorkovich to Minsk was also discussed,” the embassy informs.

A source in the Belarusian government said yesterday that the main goal of the visit to Moscow was “signing an agreement on delivering 23 million tonnes of Russian oil to Belarus in 2013”.

The embassy does not inform about agreements on oil supplies.

In late 2012, Belarus and Russia agreed on delivering 5.75 million tonnes of oil to Belarus in the first quarter of 2013. It was agreed that 5.025 million tonnes would be delivered by pipe and the rest  volume would be delivered by rail. The volume meets Belarus's annual demand of 23 million tonnes, but the country wants to the total amount of oil to be transported by pipelines.