Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijani oil, which is supplied via the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa and was delivered by land to Belarus, was one of the most “thought through” options but not the only one.

Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov told Reuters in an interview.

Since July, Russia’s Transneft has been pumping about 40 percent less oil to Belarus than in the second quarter of 2016.

Since the beginning of the year, Russia and Belarus had been unable to reach an agreement concerning how much Belarus should pay for Russian gas and the conditions for co-operation in the oil sector.

Belarus want to decrease the price set by Russian Gazprom at $132 per 1,000 cubic metres is too high.

Belarus has been trying to secure oil supplies from other sources and received test shipments from Azerbaijan.

In his last visit to Baku Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko expressed his interest in alternative supplies of oil from Azerbaijan and establishing a long-term partnership with the country's oil industry.

Lukashenko and President Ilham Aliyev also discussed bilateral cooperation in trade, agricultural, and culture speheres. The two sides aim to increase bilateral trade turnout to $700m by the end of next year.

In 2010 and 2011, Belarus bought almost 1.5 million tons of Venezuelan and Azerbaijani oil, which was shipped through the oil terminal of the Odessa port.

This time Belarus bought the raw materials for securing enough oil for its refineries, which need constant processing.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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