Moscow and Minsk are ready to make Lithuania’s nightmare come true
It will not be difficult for Russia to organize the transfer of Belarusian oil flows through its territory, which previously went through Lithuanian ports.
Energy experts interviewed by Izvestia say this, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
It is noted that yesterday the head of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak, announced the study of this issue.
Deputy Director General of the Institute of National Energy Alexander Frolov said that Belarus annually exports about 6 million tons of oil through the Baltic states, of which Lithuania accounts for approximately 1,5–2 million tons.
“The Russian port is able to cope without any difficulties with the oil cargo flow that Belarus exports through Lithuania,” Frolov is convinced.
In turn, senior analyst at Alpari Eurasia Vadim Iosub recalled that Russia actively insisted on transferring Belarusian exports through Ust-Luga back in 2017, but then Belarus did not take such a step, as this led to increased costs of logistics: even after that As Russian Railways offered a 50% discount on its tariffs, Minsk did not find this idea profitable.
“For this transfer to take place now, taking into account the difference in transport costs, additional discounts on transport tariffs are needed. Otherwise, Belarus will lose money,” said Iosub.
However, according to the general director of the Institute of National Energy, Sergei Pravosudov, Minsk is not in the best condition right now to get any discounts.
“We must understand that Russia is still the largest creditor of Belarus and the debt to the Russian Federation is about $8 billion,” the expert recalled.
Let us recall that in response to Lithuanian sanctions against Belarusian officials, President Alexander Lukashenko threatened to refuse to use Lithuanian ports for the transit of goods, which is a significant item in filling the Lithuanian budget.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.