MOSCOW, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Belarus on Wednesday
canceled a customs duty it imposed on Russian oil exports amid a dispute over
oil transit between Moscow and Minsk, raising hopes the deadlock that has led to
the disruption of oil flows to Europe could be resolved soon.
Moscow has tied the withdrawal of the transit duty,
which was imposed after Russia slapped export duties on crude oil supplied to
Belarus at the beginning of the year, to the start of any talks.
In Minsk, Belarussian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky
announced the decision to scrap the duty after a government meeting and said he
would go to Moscow on Thursday to meet with his Russian counterpart Mikhail
Fradkov, news agencies reported.
"We hope we will resolve other issues as well within
two days -issues concerning oil supplies to Belarus and transit of oil to
Europe," he was quoted as saying.
Shortly afterward, talks led by Russian Economic
Development and Trade Minister German Gref and Belarussian Deputy Prime Minister
Andrei Kobyakov resumed in Moscow.
The head of Russian state pipeline operator
Transneft, Semyon Vainshtok, said the company was ready to resume operations to
pump oil to the Druzhba pipeline, which was shut off Monday morning, news agency
Interfax reported.
Russia provides about a quarter of the oil and gas
consumed in the European Union (EU), some of which is piped through Belarus. The
oil disruption has affected Poland, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and
Slovakia and raised concerns in the EU although it said the stoppage posed "no
immediate risk" to energy supplies in the bloc.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday called the
shutting off of the Druzhba pipeline "unacceptable" and urged diversity of
energy supplies in Europe.
"It is unacceptable when there are no consultations
over such actions. This destroys trust again and again," Merkel said.
Germany, the largest economy in Europe, imports
around 100 million tons of crude oil a year and about 20 million tons are
supplied via the Druzhba pipeline.
The move to annul the transit duty followed an
announcement by Belarus that a compromise to the row was found during a
telephone conversation between Belarussian and Russian Presidents Alexander
Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin earlier in the day.
Lukashenko and Putin "came to a compromise, which
would help settle all the problems including those connected with Russian oil
transit to European states via Belarus," after talking on the telephone, state
news agency BelTA reported, citing the presidential press service.
The Kremlin issued a terse statement on the two
leaders' telephone talks but did not mention a compromise.
The two presidents discussed "economic cooperation
between Russia and Belarus, including in the energy sphere, such as problems
related to the transit of Russian crude oil via Belarus," the statement said.
The oil row came on the heels of a dispute over
natural gas supplies between the two countries. After tense negotiations that
dragged on until New Year's Eve, Belarus agreed to pay more than double the
previous price for Russian gas supplies this year.
Related:
Belarus cancels Russian oil
duty
MOSCOW, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Belarus canceled a
customs duty it imposed on Russian oil transiting through the country to Europe,
which lied in the heart of a trade dispute over oil between the two countries,
Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said on Wednesday.
Sidorsky, quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency, said
he would go to Moscow on Thursday for a meeting with his Russian counterpart
Mikhail Fradkov to resolve the issue. "I shall contact my Russian counterpart
promptly to ensure we can get down to work as soon as tomorrow," he said. Full
story>>>
