Russian oil companies began to pay with Belarus for deliveries of dirty oil through the Druzhba pipeline in 2019. According to RIA Novosti, the Mozyr Oil Refinery will be paid a total of about $ 60 million.
The plant indicated that the first tranche of 1.45 billion rubles (about $ 14 million) has already been received from Russia. “Russian companies, within the framework of the agreements reached, have begun the process of compensation for the Urals grade oil supplied in spring 2019 with a high content of organochlorine in relation to the Mozyr refinery,” the press service of the enterprise said.
The pollution of Russian export oil occurred in April 2019. Fuel was delivered to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline through the territory of Belarus. The government acknowledged the responsibility of Russian oil and transport companies, but said that payments to the victims would not exceed $ 100 million. By the autumn of last year, buyers from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary received compensation.
In addition to them, Belarus also made claims: Minsk announced that the contaminated oil damaged the gas pipeline and negatively affected the operation of local oil refineries, estimating losses at $ 61 million. In February 2020, Moscow and Minsk agreed on compensation of $ 15 for each barrel of “dirty oil” in Belarusian refineries. Rates are comparable to payments already received by buyers in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.