Belarus imposes duty on Russian oil exports :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarus imposed big new charges on Russian oil crossing its territory on Wednesday. Up to now Belarus has charged a shipping fee on Russian oil pumped across its territory but no transit duty. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko imposed transit duty of $US45 per tonne on Russian oil in retaliation for Moscow cutting subsidies on energy supplies to Belarus.

One million barrels of oil a day, or about a fifth of Russian exports, pass through Belarus. Most of that crude goes to refiners in Poland and Germany.

Market watchers said the transit duty would not affect world oil prices or cause shortages but it was likely to cause short-term disruption as refiners in Poland and Germany look for cheaper alternative supplies of crude.

Belarus was forced on January 1 to agree to pay twice the previous level for natural gas it imports from Russia: $US100 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas compared with $US46 previously. Russia had been pushing for $US105. By comparison, Russia charges European customers more than $US250 per 1,000 cubic metres.