In a major breakthrough in Russian-Belarus economic and political disputes that witnessed disruption of oil shipment to Europe, Russia agreed to slash the duty for crude oil flowing to Belarus. Under the agreed terms now Belarus will pay $53 per tonne for oil it imports against $180 that Russia had earlier demanded. In turn, Belarus will now share profits from the refined oil products it exports to other countries with Russia.
Disputes between the countries heightened this week leading to Russia stopping the oil supplies through Belarus to Europe. The oil shipment through Druzbha pipeline halted for three days after Minsk slapped a heavy transit tax for oil flowing through its territories. The events also affected the image of Russia as a trusted energy supplier to Europe.
The dispute between the two former soviet states surfaced when Russia has doubled its gas prices to which Belarus had reluctantly agreed in late December. Further, Russia imposed a sturdy duty on oil export to Belarus claiming its neighbor was causing loss in revenue to the tune of around $4 billion per year.
The differences reached the boiling point when Belarus, in retaliation, imposed a $45 per tonne transit tax on Russian oil. The differences were only resolved after a series of intense high level talks between the countries.
