OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus is looking for ways to replace Russian oil, considering options for its supplies from various regions of the world through the ports of Ukraine and the Baltic countries. This was stated by Deputy Chairman of the Belneftekhim concern Svetlana Gurina in an interview published on Tuesday to the Belarusian publication.

“We have been dealing with the issue of alternative oil supplies for several years. We are considering the possibility of delivering raw materials from the CIS countries, the Middle East, and Africa to our refineries both through Ukrainian ports and through the ports of the Baltic states”, the deputy head of the concern noted.

Belarus is looking for an alternative to Russian oil supplies in connection with an increase in its cost against the backdrop of the Russian tax maneuver in the oil sector. Minsk wants to compensate for losses from worsening oil trade conditions, and Moscow in response proposed to deepen integration in accordance with the 1999 Union State Treaty. The Belarusian Ministry of Finance estimated that budget losses from the implementation of the tax maneuver in the Russian Federation in 2019 will amount to about $ 400 million.