Belarus does not rule out the possibility of transporting oil products via Russian ports on advantageous terms, Belorusneft Deputy Director General Sergei Kamornikov told the media ahead of the 5th international conference «Belarus oil and gas market: Production, trading, and retail», belarusian Belta reported on 28 September 2017.
«The possible transit of petroleum products through Russian ports is on the agenda of ongoing sectoral negotiations and negotiations with Russian Railways and Belarusian Railways. We are also talking with Russian seaports over the reduction of tariffs and enabling the conditions provided today by ports in the Baltic states and Ukraine. If transit through Russian ports is beneficial for Belarus allowing for all the aspects (delivery, separate storage, price), nothing will prevent us from exporting products via the northern route. This is, however, just an open dialogue for the time being,» Sergei Kamornikov remarked.
Belta earlier quoted Acting Director General of Belarusian Oil Company Sergei Grib as saying whether the flow of Belarusian petroleum products will be redirected to the seaports of Northwest Russia or not.
«Russian Railways has given us a 50% discount on the transport of Belarusian fuel oil, diesel fuel, and petrol toward the port railway stations of the Oktyabrskaya Railway. We consider the possibility of exporting Belarusian petroleum products through Russian seaports on a regular basis. However, even allowing for Russian Railways' discount, rail rates in other directions are lower than the Russian ones», Sergei Grib added.
