Chronicles of the Belarusian-Russian oil war
The Belarusian Mozyr Oil Refinery said today that low-quality Russian oil led to the failure of expensive equipment due to corrosion destruction of heat exchange tubes.
BelTA reports this.
It is significant that the accusations were made only on the fourth day after a sharp increase in the level of organochlorine compounds was discovered in the raw materials supplied through the Druzhba oil pipeline.
At first there was no sign of a scandal. The Russian Transneft recognized the problem and already on Sunday found the source of pollution in the Samara-Unecha section. Now the volumes of oil flowing through the northern branch of the Druzhba are increasing, since organochlorines were supplied through the southern branch. This was reported by the official website of the Belarusian OJSC Naftan.
Officials did not allow themselves any harsh statements. Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Igor Lyashenko told reporters that he has no doubts about the professionalism of his Russian colleagues.
“They assured us that they are taking maximum action and promise that the situation will stabilize in the near future,” he said.
However, the organochlorine incident occurred against the backdrop of a more serious conflict. Russia has limited oil supplies to Belarus in order to stop its import of fuel to Ukraine. In response, President Lukashenko threatened to stop the Druzhba oil pipeline for repairs and to purchase oil for the refinery in Kazakhstan.
This nervous background could not help but generate loud comments. Thus, Belarusian opposition analyst Igor Tyshkevich stated on his YouTube channel that Russia did not specifically inform Belarusians about the increase in chloride concentrations as a result of routine maintenance in order to put Belarusian oil refineries out of commission, and then switch over all exports that went from Belarus to the west. (this includes Holland and Great Britain in addition to Ukraine).
ONT TV channel, which is loyal to Lukashenko, also spoke out.
“Maybe this is an accident? We thought so too, but no. It turns out that for three years now the operators of the Druzhba oil pipeline have been complaining about the quality of raw materials. The oil workers themselves say that Russia supplies the best oil to China, and to Druzhba on a residual basis,” the report said.
On Tuesday, April 23, oil workers of the two countries will discuss technical and compensation issues. Perhaps today's statement by the Mozyr Oil Refinery is just an attempt to strengthen its position in the upcoming negotiations.
English version :: Read in English: Chronicles of the Belarusian-Russian Oil War