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Belarus may sell its oil pipelines

The Belarusian government does not rule out the possibility of selling its oil pipelines

MINSK, February 17 (Itar-Tass) — The Belarusian government does not rule out the possibility of selling its oil pipelines.

“Negotiations are underway. Of course, there are different thoughts, and there can be different buyers not only the Russian ones,” First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko told reporters on Friday.

However, he noted that so far the authorities have not looked into the issue thoroughly. “But I believe it is a matter of time,” Semashko noted.

According to him, the Belarusian oil pipelines don’t operate at their full capacity at the moment, while Russia has got the Baltic Pipeline System 1 (BTS-1) and BTS-2. “We must think how to use the existing facilities efficiently,” Semashko emphasized.

In particular, he reminded reporters that the northern pipeline Druzhba remained idle since 2008. “Its capacity is some 37 million tons a year, while oil only goes to the Novopolotsk oil refinery (Naftan Joint Stock Company),” he stressed.