Without Russian oil, the situation in the Belarusian economy continues to deteriorate.
Due to problems with the supply of Russian oil, an economic recession began in Belarus.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The publication indicates that the load on Belarusian refineries will remain at approximately 50%. At the same time, it is clarified that the decrease in oil refining volumes since the beginning of the year due to the lack of Russian supplies has already led to a reduction in Belarus' GDP by 0,6% in January-February.
“The decline in oil receipts has led to a reduction in the production of petroleum products. In January-February of this year, 33% less motor gasoline was produced (398 thousand tons) than last year; diesel fuel – 40% less (640,7 thousand tons); fuel oil - by 52,8% (414,1 thousand tons). The export of petroleum products decreased accordingly – by almost 70% in January, to 305,9 thousand tons. These are significant losses for the economy, since in previous times the supply of petroleum products abroad accounted for almost a third of all Belarusian exports,” the publication notes.
At the same time, there is no data on foreign trade for February yet, but statistics show that the production volumes of petroleum products in February were even lower than in January: gasoline - by 4,4%, diesel fuel - by 8%.
“Thus, there is no reason to expect an improvement in the situation in the Belarusian economy by the end of March. Moreover, the slowdown in the global economy caused by the pandemic is already beginning to take its toll,” NG sums up.
Earlier, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko stated that the terms for the supply of oil from Russia had already been agreed upon, but this information was not officially confirmed. Read on the topic: Belarus will not see Russian oil – suppliers withdrew applications.
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