Russia Wants Belarus to Return $1.5bln Duties Made on Shadow Oil Export
Moscow suggested Minsk returning $1.5bln of duties underpaid by Belarus while exporting oil products refined from Russian oil under the guise of solvents and thinners.
According to PRIME-TASS’ anonymous source, such a proposition was voiced at the negotiations in Moscow on oil supplies to Belarus in Q4, 2012 and in 2013, BelaPAN says.
Last week, the talks of the two parties with Belarus’ vice-PM Uladzimir Siamashka and Russia’s deputy Minister of Economy Anatoly Frolov were held in Moscow.
Russian vice-PM Arkady Dvorkovich on October 26 said that Russian and Belarus were negotiating on oil shipments to Belarus in 2012–2013 in accordance with the “solvent business” issues.
“The subject of the negotiations is the volume of the oil shipments in this and the next year, the conditions to be met. First of all, these are alterations to the regulatory act in order not to reiterate the issues of last summer’s exports of so-called solvents,” Dvorkovich said.
Russian officials repeatedly told that Belarus could have export oil products under the guise of solvents and thinners as they are not subject to Russian duty.
In mid-September, Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Miasnikovich announced that the export of solvents from Belarus had been halted in early August in order not to cause distrust of Russian partners.