Opinions & Interviews

SMOLENSK OBLAST, 11 March (BelTA) – Modernization has allowed Belarusian oil processing companies to enter foreign markets, BelTA learned from Nikolai Kutsko, head of the Smolensk office of the Embassy of Belarus in Russia, after an automobile refueling station that uses the Belarusian brand BelOil was opened in Smolensk Oblast on 11 March.

“Russian consumers can get good products — Belarusian light-oil products. They are attractive primarily thanks to their quality. Belarusian oil processing enterprises are being modernized. Certainly, it is a costly process but we are ahead of Russian manufacturers of oil products for some time,” stated the diplomat. “We have entered the European market and this is why presenting our merchandise in Russia is not so difficult. The price and the quality are the main factors of the presence in Russia”.

Nikolai Kutsko remarked that more and more Russians appreciate Belarusian products and services. The sale of Belarusian fuel by the producer by wholesale and now in retail is a promising project in cooperation of the neighboring countries. As another example of successful partnership the diplomat mentioned housing construction. “We are building the Vitebsk City Block in Smolensk. It is an entire system of 13 homes. We are building Malinovka and Minsk Park in Kaluga. There are other projects, too,” he said.

The project to create a network of automobile refueling stations in Russia using the Belarusian brand BelOil is being implemented by OOO European Trading Company. So far two refueling stations have been built 100km away from each other on the A141 motorway. They are owned by a major Russian oil trading company while the Belarusian company provides its trademark and the merchandise.

Smolensk-based OOO European Trading Company was created in 2012 by ZAO Belarusian Oil Company. The priorities include the fulfillment of Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreements that require Belarusian oil refineries to supply certain volumes of their products to Russia on specific terms. OOO European Trading Company sells Euro 5 compliant oil products to Russia, primarily the central federal district and the northwestern federal district, via commodity exchanges, via direct contracts, and in small bulk. The company is one of the largest tax payers in Smolensk Oblast. Since its establishment it has supplied over 1 million tonnes of oil products to Russia.