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Belarus negotiating oil supplies with Iran — president

Belarus has turned to Iran amid complicated talks on gas and oil with Russia

© BELTA/ITAR-TASS

MINSK, October 7. /TASS/. Belarus is negotiating oil supplies with Iran due to complicated talks on gas and oil with Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday.

"We’re in talks with Iran, which is searching for [crude oil buyers - TASS] to supply oil and which will cut down the price for us," he said.

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According to Lukashenko, the country has been facing "critical oil supply", which may "destroy (the country's - TASS) refineries." As of today, Belarus is losing certain sums but has to compensate for them, for example, via pumping Russian oil through its territory. "If it carries on like this we’ll take additional measures," he added.

The president has however pointed out that new proposals have emerged in the talks between Belarus and Russia regarding the oil and gas issue.

"There are some new proposals. I think Russian President has got involved and we’re going to find a solution," Lukashenko said. "We’re ready to compromise," he added.

According to Lukashenko, Minsk is willing to have "a normal, equal cooperation" with Russia. In this case, "Russia will never have any problems with us," the top official said.

According to the decree adopted by Belarus’ Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Ministry on September 28, 2016, tariffs for Russia’s oil transit through Belarusian pipelines will increase by 50% starting October 11, 2016.

The Russian side says the decision violates the existing agreements, which contain provisions of both the intergovernmental agreement and the agreed mechanism of tariff adjustments.

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