Opinions & Interviews

Kazakhstan ready to supply oil to Belarus if Russia okay with it

MINSK, 23 May (BelTA) – Kazakhstan is ready to supply oil to Belarus, BelTA learned from Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus Yermukhamet Yertysbayev on 23 May.

The ambassador said: “Literally yesterday Ambassador of Belarus to Kazakhstan [Anatoly] Nichkasov had very intensive and important negotiations with the relevant sectoral agency to discuss supplies of oil and oil products. We are ready, there are absolutely no problems. We have sufficient amounts of oil and oil products to offer.”

Russia is supposed to endorse the Belarus-Kazakhstan arrangements because oil will have to be transported via an oil pipeline located in Russian territory. The ambassador remarked that Russia is a strategic partner both for Belarus and Kazakhstan, which means the sides will try to find a solution everyone can accept.

“Certainly, it will not be profitable for Russians since they have ample supplies of their own oil on offer. But we would like the Eurasian Economic Union to be advantageous for all participants. It is very important to support each other as our union is being established. Aleksandr Grigoryevich [Lukashenko] didn’t just agree with that. He presented a number of other strong and important arguments to support this statement,” the diplomat pointed out.

Yermukhamet Yertysbayev added that Kazakh oil can also be delivered to Belarus by rail, but the effectiveness of this kind of cooperation will be much lower. “It is a matter of negotiations between the sectoral agencies of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. We are ready for it. We have already thought out the entire scheme,” he stressed.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks