MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/. Two Russian companies, including Russneft, are ready to supply oil to Belarus, a source close to a Belarusian oil refinery informed TASS.

"Two Russian companies will supply oil to Belarus. Russneft will supply the bulk of it," the source stated.

Earlier on Saturday, the Belarusian state petrochemical concern Belneftekhim informed that Belarus had agreed to supply the first batch of Russian oil at a price without a premium, adding that in the near future, the country will receive the necessary volumes of raw materials for the non-stop operation of Belarusian refineries in January.

On Friday, Belneftekhim said that Russia had stopped oil supplies to Belarus, adding that the capacity of the country’s oil refineries had been reduced to the minimum technologically permissible level.

On December 30 and 31, Russian and Belarusian leaders Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko held two phone calls, during which they discussed the export of Russian oil and gas to the republic. Lukashenko also discussed this matter with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on December 21. On the same day, Lukashenko mandated the Belarusian oil and gas complex leadership to sign contracts for oil deliveries and to work on the conditions of delivering raw materials from Baltic ports via the railway service and the Druzhba pipeline. However, the contracts have not been signed so far.