MINSK, 13 January (BelTA) – Representatives of antimonopoly authorities of Belarus and Russia failed to come to terms on tariffs on the transit of Russian oil and oil products via Belarus on 13 January. Negotiations will resume soon, a representative of the Belarusian Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Ministry told BelTA after the talks.
According to the source, the Belarusian side suggested raising this year's tariffs in line with the current guidelines adopted by the two regulatory authorities and in accordance with the agreements reached in August 2019. “In particular, in August we agreed we will take a look at the actual amount of products transported in 2019 and the earnings OAO Gomeltransneft Druzhba failed to receive in 2019 due to lower transportation volumes and will take into account these facts as we make plans for 2020. This is why we've suggested raising the tariff by the inflation component (just as the guidelines specify) and by the missed volume of earnings in order to compensate for them this year,” the Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Ministry representative explained.
In response the Russian side raised some questions regarding calculations made by OAO Gomeltransneft Druzhba. “This is why we've agreed to continue meetings at the level of specialists in order to clarify these calculations,” the Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Ministry representative said.
In line with the existing guidelines the matter of tariffs on the transit of Russian oil and oil products is to be resolved by the tariff regulation authorities of Belarus and Russia on 15 January at the latest. If they fail to do that, the decision has to be made by 1 February, the source specified.
