Allegations that the flow of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Belarus was cut off or that Belarus cut the supply of electricity via its territory, following trade disputes between Russian and Belarus are absolutely false, Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Secretary Andrei Popov told New Europe on 5 January.
“To the best of my knowledge any allegations of possible cuts of those oil and electricity supplies are absolutely groundless. There are issues of forthcoming agreements between Belarus and Russia on electricity transit and oil supplies to other countries and the talks on those issues are still underway,” Popov said, telephonically from Minsk without elaborating.
He reminded that Belarusian officials said on January 4 that Russia was still shipping oil to Belarus. “The oil is still supplied to the Belarusian refineries,” Popov said.
Asked if he could rule out any energy supply disruptions in the future, he said: “We’re not wizards, we’re not some kind of magicians; it’s not our function to make predictions. We’re at the ministry. We’re responsible of communicating the official position on that issue and the official standpoint as of now is that the negotiations on those issues are continuing.”
Popov wouldn't comment on a Belarusian cabinet statement on 3 January that Moscow's demand that Belarus should pay a higher tax on the bulk of Russian oil shipment contradicted an agreement on customs union signed late last year. Belarus said earlier that Russian officials had put "unprecedented pressure" on its delegation during the price talks, describing it as "totally unacceptable."