Belarus is insisting on calculating VAT fees, payable on the import of oil to the country from Russia.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Moscow Unaware of New Belarusian Duties
The Russian oil transport company Transneft does not know about the export duty Belarus has placed on Russian oil. Company vice president told radio station Ekho Moskvy that the company has not received any documentation of the imposition of the new duty. RIA Novosti information agency reports that the Belarusian state Belneftekhim concern has issued a statement saying that it has officially informed the Transneft of the new rules for the transport of hydrocarbons across the territory of the country.
Belarusian Prime Minister Sergey Sidorsky has also announced the new duty. He said that Minsk was imposing a duty of $45 per ton on the transport of Russian oil as of January 1.
The rules for oil transportation were changed after Gazprom and Minsk signed an agreement on natural gas supplies to Belarus on the night of December 31. The resulting price for gas was $100 per 1000 cu. m. The agreement also included provisions for Gazprom's purchase of half of the stock in Beltransgaz.
After that agreement was signed, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced possible economic measures against Russia. He instructed the government that “Russia should be sent proposals for payment for everything that it receives for free here, from military facilities to transportation.”
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