Rosneft Head Informed Putin About Results Of Negotiations With Lukashenka

What was Sechin's mission in Minsk?

Rosneft head Igor Sechin was on a visit to Minsk on February 18. Some experts believe that he brought a certain proposal from Putin to Lukashenka concerning the resolution of the conflict over oil supplies.

On February 21, RIA Novosti with reference to the spokesman for the Russian president said that Sechin had reported on the trip to Vladimir Putin. However, the Russian media do not give any details about the results of the conversation.

We remind that yesterday it became known that Belarus had bought two tankers of Russian oil from traders with transshipment in Lithuania against the background of lack of oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline and shortage of raw materials for the refineries. The price of the deal is not disclosed. Belnautakhim only specified that the oil was bought without premium.

The main subject of the dispute between Belarus and Russia is the price of oil and the premium, which Russian suppliers want to get. The Belarusian authorities, referring to the "world price," the loss of Belarus from the tax maneuver in the Russian oil industry and the damage from the pollution of Druzhba last year, insist on deliveries without a premium. So far, nothing is known about the results of negotiations between Belarus and certain Russian suppliers. In 2020, Belarus made a one-time purchase of oil in Norway in order to ensure minimum loading of the refineries. Businessman Gutseriyev's Safmar Group companies also supplied oil to Belarus.

As for Rosneft headed by Sechin, it was the key supplier of raw materials to Belarus. Last year, it supplied 8.8 million tons of oil to Minsk, which is half of the fuel imports to the country. Rosneft also has assets in Belarus: 36 filling stations, five oil depots and 21% stake of the Mazyr refinery.