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Russia to resume oil supplies to Belarus on April 13 once gas debt repaid

On April 3, it was announced following a meeting of Russian and Belarusian presidents that the dispute in the oil and gas sector had been settled

© Yuri Smityuk/TASS

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. Russia’s oil supplies to Belarus may be resumed on April 13 once the payment for delivered gas arrives, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Wednesday.

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Putin says Russia, Belarus to settle gas issues in ten days

"If the payment for gas (supplied) previously arrives they (oil supplies) may be resumed (starting April 13 - TASS), but only in this case," he said when asked whether oil supplies to Belarus will be resumed on April 13.

On April 3, it was announced following a meeting of Russian and Belarusian presidents that the dispute in the oil and gas sector had been settled. The sides made a decision to review intergovernmental papers related to the gas and oil cooperation. After they are initialed the Belarusian side will pay $726 mln worth of debt to Gazprom. Russia will increase tax-free oil supplies from 18 mln to 24 mln tonnes per year and provide discounts to Belarus with a step-down coefficient to the price calculation formula for the period from 2018 to 2019. Also, the two countries are expected to develop a single gas market regulation by January 1, 2018.

Belarus and Russia have been negotiating a reduction in gas prices since early 2016. Minsk insisted on lowering the price of Russian natural gas from $132 to $73 per 1,000 cubic meters and demanded that Russia switch to equal netback pricing. In response to underpayment of around $300 mln for Russian gas supplies Moscow cut its tax-free oil supplies to Belarus by more than a third.

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