Poland entered the Russian-Belarusian oil war
The operator of the Polish section of the Druzhba oil pipeline, PERN, sent a letter to the Russian Transneft, in which it said that it was stopping pumping Russian oil due to its low quality.
Let us recall that on April 19 it was discovered that the content of organochlorines in the oil supplied to Belarus via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline was significantly higher.
Polish statements magically coincided with the completion of Russian-Belarusian negotiations regarding the situation with the Druzhba oil pipeline. The Russian side does not comment on their results; the Belarusian side, on the contrary, declares failure through state media.
“Unfortunately, the problems of Belarusian colleagues in Russia are considered secondary, and they refer to obligations to other partners. The delay increases the already colossal damage to the petrochemical industry in Belarus, Ukraine and the European Union,” reported the Belarus 1 TV channel.
The second ONT TV channel claims that Belarus has already suffered losses “in the hundreds of millions of dollars” and is counting on compensation.
As previously reported, the tone of Belarusian officials suddenly changed on the third day after the incident. At first, the oil workers calmly discussed the problem, especially since Transneft recognized it. However, on Monday they began to announce that they were looking for supplies of “alternative oil”.
Experts tend to consider Belarusian claims in the context of Russia’s recent refusal to supply fuel to Ukraine. Russia supplied $2 billion worth of petroleum products there per year. Belarus wants to replace this loss with its own gasoline, but for this it needs additional oil, preferably, as before, at preferential prices.
Perhaps it was the making of these bold demands that led to the failure of the negotiations in Moscow. The “Ukrainian trace” also explains Poland’s unexpected readiness to intervene in the oil war of the allied states.
Poland has entered the Russian-Belarusian oil war.