The Russian minister felt uncomfortable for the Belarusian prime minister
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak denied today's statement by Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Rumas that Belarus will purchase 2 million tons of Russian oil at a price of $4 per ton.
He said this on the air of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“It is incorrect for me to correct the words of the Prime Minister. I would just comment on what prices it will be supplied at. This is the market minus the export duty and the $5 premium,” the minister explained.
In order to somehow justify the strange behavior of the Belarusian prime minister, the Russian minister suggested that Rumas simply confused the price and the premium that Belarus would pay to Russian supplying companies.
“I think there's been some... It needs to be adjusted. As I believe, from the negotiations that we conducted, we were talking about the size of the bonus that the company should have. It was reduced from 12 to 5 dollars. Oil supplies will, naturally, be in accordance with the price that is formed on the market minus the export duty, since supplies between our countries are duty-free. This just creates a competitive advantage for us compared to other suppliers. Our oil is 20% cheaper because of this,” Novak said.
It is worth noting that Rumas did not mix up anything. He argued that Belarus would buy oil from Russia without any premiums at all at a price of $4 per barrel.
Russia constantly has to refute the strange statements of Belarusian officials. Last week, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Aleksey Sazanov already denied Rumas’s words that Russia would pay a bonus from its own budget to companies supplying oil to Belarusian refineries. Traditionally, these premiums are paid by the buyer.
In February, Lukashenko announced that Russia had accepted the Belarusian conditions and would pay at least $300 million to compensate for its tax maneuver. This statement was then disavowed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.
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