Russia stops oil supplies to Belarus' largest refinery
Russia has stopped supplying oil to Belarus' largest refinery, which has come under US sanctions imposed for "election fraud" and "flagrant human rights violations" by Alexander Lukashenko's regime.
Naftan refinery, which in the past processed 5.5 million barrels of Russian oil per month, is not included in the export schedule of the Russian oil industry for the third quarter, Interfax reports.
Deliveries to the second largest refinery, Mozyr Oil Refinery, will continue and will amount to 2.36 million tons. In the second quarter, Russia delivered 2.25 million tons to each of the two refineries.
At the end of April, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of the Treasury put Naftan on the sanctions list, giving its clients 45 days to complete all transactions.
The sanctions came into force on June 3, but in May, according to Reuters, the largest Russian oil suppliers, Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz, refused to supply oil to the refinery.
Agency ‘s sources in the industry explained this by the fear of falling under secondary sanctions, which can be imposed against violators of the U.S. sanctions regime.
After visiting Vladimir Putin in Sochi three weeks ago, self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that the issues with oil had been resolved.
"At the very least, we have agreed that there will be no issues with oil supplies. It is profitable for Russia. We can process 22 million tons of oil. There will be no problems in oil supplies for Belarusian refineries, the Russian president said. This includes the supply of oil products to the Russian market and the foreign market," Lukashenko said.
However, Belarusian oil exports are facing European sanctions, which will prohibit the purchase of refinery products, as well as fertilizers and tobacco.