MOSCOW, 21 January (BelTA – TASS) - Belarus is convinced that Moscow and Minsk will resolve the disagreements in the oil and gas industry, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Vladimir Semashko said in an interview with TASS.
"Unfortunately, we have a bad practice when at the end of a year we sometimes have oil and gas issues, and tensions mount due to this," Vladimir Semashko said. "But history shows that we have been always able to settle them." During his latest visit to Russia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that serious progress had been made in the negotiations and that mutual understanding grew, and that next time these problems would be solved. "The president is absolutely convinced about this," the diplomat said.
When asked about whether there media speculations about the recent deterioration in the relations between Moscow and Minsk have any grounds, the Ambassador said: "I do not think there is deterioration in relations. Some Russian media outlets have exaggerated the well-known differences in the two countries' approaches," the ambassador said.
Minsk and Moscow have been engaged in the negotiations on the work of the Belarusian oil processing sector in the light of Russia's tax maneuver, which will result in higher crude prices for Belarusian oil refineries.
