Business news

MINSK, 17 November (BelTA) – Russia is not interested in letting Belarusian companies extract oil in Russia. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the relevant statement while talking to representatives of Russian regional mass media in Minsk on 17 November, BelTA has learned.

Asked what prevents Belarusian companies from resuming oil extraction in Russia just like it was done in the USSR times, Alexander Lukashenko explained: “The attitude of the Russian leadership is the stumbling block. The Russian leadership would be unable to influence Belarus if we were allowed to extract oil and later on natural gas ourselves. To be honest, you said nearly exactly what I say: when Belarus and Russia argue about oil or natural gas deliveries, I remind Russian leaders about how Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Russians worked together to extract oil in the USSR. Back then we didn’t divide things,” noted the head of state.

The President stressed that trying to sway Belarus using oil and gas deliveries is an incorrect approach. “If someone in Russia thinks that they can influence Belarus because we buy oil and natural gas from them, they are wrong. They can influence but it is better to influence via common projects. I am in favor of projects that bring Belarus and Russia closer to each other instead of forcing us to bend to Russia’s will. The world is different now. It is not the world where a country can be forced to bend,” stated Alexander Lukashenko.

The head of state underlined that Belarus considers various options for getting oil. “Oil is abundant these days. Yes, the price can be higher, but we have several options in mind. We may deliver oil via Ukraine. We utilized the option in the past when Russia stopped selling oil to us. Back then we delivered Venezuelan oil via Ukraine. If we utilize these options, then a different kind of oil will get to the Russian market since we process 25 million tonnes and 60-80 million tonnes of Russian oil is pumped via Belarus to Western Europe. We could work out a balance of interests and come to terms. We could but have been unable to do that so far,” remarked Alexander Lukashenko.

The President reminded that back in the USSR Belarus would extract up to 7 million tonnes of oil per annum. In 2016 Belarusian companies intend to extract 1.6 million tonnes. “Seven million would be enough to satisfy Belarus’ domestic demand. If we had 7-8 million tonnes per annum, we would have no problems and Belarus would be the most prosperous European country,” concluded Alexander Lukashenko.