Russian-Belarusian energy conflicts

The first conflict began in December 2006 , when Gazprom announced the final version of the price of natural gas for the Republic of Belarus in the amount of $ 105 per 1000 m³. Moreover, $ 75 is payable in cash, and Belarus would have the right to pay the remaining 30 with Beltransgaz shares , which was valued at $ 5 billion.

On December 27, Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller threatened to disconnect Belarus from Russian gas if the contract was not completed before December 31, January 1 at 10:00 Moscow time. In response, Belarus refused to sign a contract for gas transit to Europe through its territory. European consumers feared that the Russian-Ukrainian gas conflict would happen again, however, after 3 days of negotiations on December 31 , when 2 minutes were left before the new year , a gas supply and transit contract for 2007 was signed.

The next day, the Russian government imposed a duty on oil exports to Belarus, since Belarus for 9 years did not pay Russia the agreed part of the proceeds from the resale of cheap Russian oil. On January 3, Belarus introduced its own oil transit fee in the amount of $ 45 per ton. Russia called this action “violation of bilateral agreements” ^[1] , including because such a duty is unique in world practice, in which transit goods not produced or consumed in the country are not subject to duties. In the evening of January 6, Russia demanded that the Belarusian authorities abolish the “illegally introduced” duties, promising to take “adequate” measures in case of refusal ^[2] . January 7 received an official refusal from Minsk ^[3] .

On the morning of January 8, Poland announced that Russian oil ceased to flow through the Druzhba pipeline ^[4] . In the afternoon, Transneft ’s management stated that the supply was cut off on their own initiative, as they said there was an illegal oil seizure on the territory of Belarus. According to the general director of the company, Semyon Vainshtok, from January 1, Belarus unauthorizedly seized 79 thousand tons of oil from the export pipeline.

On January 10, Alexander Lukashenko had a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin , after which Belarus refused export duties on the night of the 11th. That same night, oil transit to Europe was resumed through the Druzhba pipeline. January 11, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky arrived in Moscow, where he held talks with his Russian counterpart.

Russia did not pay for the transit of natural gas through Belarus and owed more than $ 220 million ^[5] .

Due to the fact that Belarus continued to pay for gas consumed at last year’s price, although the contract provided for an increase in price from $ 150 to $ 169, the debt to Gazprom accumulated in the amount of about $ 200 million, which Russian President Medvedev in June 2010 demanded to repay. Otherwise, after a five-day period, the Russian Federation threatened to reduce the supply of natural gas to Belarus.

At the end of the period, after deliveries really began to decline (June 22) and despite the denial of debt and even counterclaims, the Belarusian side promised to pay off all its debts within two weeks ^[6] . According to Alexander Lukashenko, money in the amount of $ 187 million to pay him was lent to him by his friends, in particular, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev ^[7] . However, subsequently, Russia recognized its debt and paid Belarus $ 220 million.

The reasons for this conflict are not clear, since in world practice the issues of such mutual debts are resolved quietly, without posting.

2017

After another oil and gas dispute between the two countries, in 2017 a new form of subsidization was introduced. so called “Customs clearance”: in fact, Minsk purchases only 18 million from the planned 24 million tons from Russia, the remaining 6 million tons are “customs cleared” and this Russian oil is transited through Belarus via the Druzhba pipeline, without changing ownership. Russian companies sell it for export and pay export duties to the Russian budget. But, according to the agreements, Russia returns this money from the Russian to the Belarusian budget, which gives Minsk about 500-700 million dollars. ^[eight]

• Gazprom
• Transneft
• Beltransgaz
• Gas conflicts between Russia and Ukraine

• Belarusian refineries can be sold to Russia // 7.01.2019