MOSCOW (AP) - Russia has reportedly agreed to slash the duty on oil exports to Belarus by 70 percent and Belarus will share with Moscow a substantial amount of profits from the refined oil products it sells to Europe.Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov was quoted Friday by Russian news agencies as making the announcement after some 10 hours of tense talks in Moscow with his Belarusian counterpart, Sergei Sidorsky. "In fact, we will for example earn $53 from every metric ton (of oil) exported to Belarus," Fradkov was quoted as saying by Interfax. That is down from a duty of $180 per ton.
A Kremlin spokesman said he had no information on the talks; a top official with Russian state-controlled pipeline operator OAO Transneft also declined to comment.
The announcement capped a week of discussions and brinkmanship by Russia and Belarus, and came two days after Belarus' government canceled a $45-per-ton transit tax on Russian oil - a tax that had prompted Moscow to cut off oil shipments to Belarus and disrupt supplies to Europe.
It also appeared to be a victory, at least monetarily, for Russia, which will reap revenues from both the duty on oil exported to Belarus as well as from some of the billions that Belarus has made from refining cheap Russian oil and selling value-added products to European markets. Fradkov said the latest agreements would bring over $1 billion into the Russian budget, Interfax reported.
The disruption in oil supplies, which affected Germany, Poland and a host of other countries, again rattled many European capital and cast new doubts on Russia's dependability as an energy supplier.