Mass Media: Shmatko has not let Ukraine pumping Venezuelan oil to Belarus
- 20.10.2010, 14:31
Without Russia’s consent it will be impossible to organize the Venezuelan oil pumping through the Friendship (Druzhba) pipeline at the segment Odessa — Brody.
It was stated by the Energy Minister of RF Sergei Shmatko, “Nezavisimaya gazeta” writes alluding to its source.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka is insistently offering Kiev to join to the project the pipeline Odessa – Brody, which has been operating in backward direction for several years pumping Russian oil from West frontiers of Ukraine in the direction of Odessa port. A couple of months ago the Minister of Transport and Communications of Ukraine Konstantin Yefimenko informed, that Kiev admits the possibility of the restart of the pipeline in the project direction, but only in case Minsk guaranties the annual purchase volume of Venezuelan oil in the volume of not less than 9 mln tons. At the beginning of October Lukashenka stated that this decision is practically accepted as the Russian partners in Ukraine stopped fulfilling their obligations: “The pipeline (Odessa - Brody - Editor's Note) remains empty. They are not able to fill it by themselves”. Representatives of official Minsk are reckoning to purchase more than 10 mln tons of Venezuelan oil annually starting from the year of 2011, promising the Ukrainian side to fill the pipeline.
A state official, who is a source of the publication, confirmed that the problems with filling the route with Russian oil started in June, and in September-October the pipeline is actually hardly used. He supposed, that it is connected with the political difficulties between Minsk and Moscow, and with Ukrainian-Belarusian energy projects, which are letting Alyaksandr Lukashenka keep afloat. “The other day the Energy Minister of RF Sergei Shmatko warned us that without Russia’s consent it will be impossible to organize the Venezuelan oil pumping through the Friendship (Druzhba) pipeline at the segment Odessa — Brody. And this segment is actually the Belarusian direction of the route Odessa — Brody”, – he explained.