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Moscow wants Minsk to use Russia’s port, not Klaipeda, to load oil.
This year, nine tankers bound for Belarus were transshipped through Klaipedos Nafta, about 669 thousand tons. Two tankers brought crude from the United States. Mr. Lukashenko previously said that oil imports should be diversified and independent only from Russian oil.
Last week, Lukashenko said he had instructed the government to consider a plan to shift cargo from the Klaipeda port to others. This is a response to Lithuania’s position on the issue of rigged presidential elections.
Novak and other ministers escorted Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to Minsk on Thursday.
As Interfax announced, next steps will be announced later.
On Thursday, the head of Klaipedos Nafta, Darius Silesnis, issued a comment in which he said that “the statements of the neighboring country today, like the situation in general, are really worrying: from the cooperation in the construction of alternative routes of crude and the rhetoric of trade engagements with Belarusian oil suppliers the termination of trade interfaces and cargo diversion from Klaipėda ”.
“I can only repeat that transporting and loading cargo through the Klaipedos Nafta terminal for our customers in Belarus is commercially viable: we are competitive and diversion of cargo to other locations could be a suboptimal and logistical solution,” he added.
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