MOSCOW, 27 January (BelTA) - The Russian government has approved a draft agreement with the Belarusian government on the organization of cooperation in transportation and transshipment of Belarusian oil products destined to third countries through Russian seaports. The appropriate resolution of the Russian government was published on the Russian internet legal information portal on 27 January, BelTA has learned.
The Russian government has instructed the Ministry of Transport to hold talks and sign the agreement with Belarus. According to the draft agreement, the volume of transshipment can amount to 2-3.5 million tonnes per year. The agreement is expected to remain in force until the end of December 2023. Oil products made by the Belarusian refineries will be transported to Russian ports by rail. Rail fares will be set in accordance with the national legislations, taking into account the discounts provided by the Russian Railways and the Belarusian Railways. The parties guarantee no increases in tariffs, except for annual overall indexation.
Belarus and Russia intend to sign an intergovernmental agreement on transshipment of Belarusian transit freight to Russian sea ports soon, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko told the media following the talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on 26 January.
“We discussed the transshipment of Belarusian cargoes, in particular oil products, through Russian ports,” Roman Golovchenko said. “This task was set forth by the president in connection with the well-known approaches of the Baltic countries and their unfriendly position towards Belarus. Therefore, we are working on this task and are planning to sign the intergovernmental agreement soon. We expect the economic conditions in Russian ports for our traders and shippers to be at least not worse than what we had in the Baltic ports."
"In this regard, the ministries made sure that the economic effect will be positive for Belarus," the Belarusian head of government stressed.
