Is Kazakhstan to do Belarus an ill service?

Belarus had come to the Customs Union to get economically advantageous duty free oil, but agreement on has not been reached yet.

On August 30 Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Belarus Anatoly Smirnov said to the press that deliveries of oil to Belarus are possible: “Certainly, oil and other goods manufactured in Kazakhstan could be delivered to Belarus today. But economic entities of the two countries must meet and come to an agreement how it would be exported. And after finding an agreement, deliveries can take place.”

As said by the Ambassador, existence of the Customs Union would facilitate decision on oil deliveries to Belarus, the European Radio for Belarus informs.

It would be nice, but latest news throw discredit upon this information. Since January 1, 2011 Kazakhstan is to double duty for exported oil. It has been stated today in Astana by Finance Minister Bolat Zhamishev at the session of the government. As said by him, “the most significant additional income flow to the budget is expected at the expense of increased customs duty for oil from 20 dollars per tom to 40 dollar s per ton, RBK writes.

We remind that Kazakhstan started to collect duty for oil export of 20 dollars per ton since July 2010, cancelling the null rate which was in force for the period of the crisis. Now the duty is applied to largest oil companies which had not been paying it before.

If Belarus would come to Kazakhstan for oil, we risk exceeding the budget which is not brilliant by the way. It is easy to count: Venezuela, from which deliveries are planned to be increased to 10 million tons, Iran, and now Kazakhstan with its increase of export duties. And there are no guarantees that in search of cheap non-Russian oil we are not bargaining one trouble for another, and that the idea of friendly Kazakhstan is not to make money on Belarus, over which the oil a stranglehold is tightening more and more. And the issue of gas is yet to be raised…