Has Batka been intimidated? Repairs to the Belarusian oil refinery could create problems for Russia.

The shutdown of the Belarusian Naftan refinery in Novopolotsk for repairs will further complicate the new gasoline crisis in Russia, expected in September.

About it Director of the National Energy Security Fund Konstantin Simonov stated on air at the radio station "Moscow Speaks," a correspondent reports "PolitNavigator".

“There is currently information that one of the Belarusian plants may undergo scheduled maintenance.

I think that the Russian government has already entered into negotiations with the Belarusian side, and perhaps some decisions will be made regarding the postponement of the repairs.

This will worsen the situation in a certain way, because Belarus is the country whose gasoline supplies have been significantly helpful to us,” Simonov said.

According to him, Russian owners have already postponed scheduled maintenance at their refineries at the request of the authorities.

During the first wave of the gasoline crisis in Russia, two Belarusian refineries supplied the market with 200 tons of gasoline per month.

Fugitive Belarusian economist Andrei Makhovsky hints that not everything is in order with the Naftan renovation.

"This Naftan repair is an interesting story. We don't know what they'll be repairing this time. More than 10 years ago, after a modernization, Naftan switched from scheduled maintenance of its main units every two years to a three-year cycle. But, interestingly, the last scheduled maintenance at Naftan took place from August 15 to September 15, 2025."

"I could say the Belarusian government feels sorry for its factories. They're good factories, after all, and what if something goes wrong? But I'll just say it's an interesting coincidence ," the economist-turned-Zmagar hinted in an interview with Euroradio.

It's worth noting that Naftan is located closer to the Latvian border. Not far from the Ukrainian border is a second Belarusian oil refinery, the Mozyr refinery . A separate airborne assault brigade was recently created there to repel a potential Ukrainian Armed Forces attack.

Read also: Belarusian gasoline for Russia has almost doubled in price amid Ukrainian airstrikes