Belarus Calls Russia's Oil Export Duties Illegal

MINSK (Reuters) – Minsk on Saturday accused Russia of acting illegally in applying full export fees to oil pumped to Belarus, in a sign that the dispute — which some fear could disrupt supplies to Europe — is far from resolved.

“Russia has effectively come out of the agreement one-sidedly and is illegally applying full duties to Russian companies supplying oil to Belarus,” Alexander Shpilevsky, the head of the Belarussian customs committee, told a news briefing.

An unresolved dispute over Russia’s oil exports to its neighbour has led to Moscow imposing full export duties from January 1 on most of its crude supplies to Belarus.

Shpilevsky said that in his opinion, the agreement which expired at the end of 2009 implied that after its expiration oil exports to Belarus should not be subject to customs fees.

NY Times