Fuel from Belarus may stop delivering to Russia

Belarus may reduce or stop supplying fuel to the Russian market, writes Kommersant, citing sources. This may happen after the damper payments have been halved since autumn.

Oil refineries (refineries) of Belarus have been supplying fuel to the St. Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange (SPIMEX) since the end of last year through the state trader from Russia Promsyreimport.

In turn, the Russian trader, after receiving raw materials, sells these volumes through the stock exchange at domestic prices, the newspaper reports. To compensate for the gap between the purchase price and the domestic price, Promsyrieimport receives damper payments from the budget.

According to the amendments made to the Tax Code, damper payments will be halved in September, which may become unprofitable for producers from the neighboring republic. According to sources, the Belarusian refineries will redirect the fuel supplied to Russia for export to far abroad countries through the Russian ports of the North-West.

As the interlocutors noted, the cessation of fuel supplies from Belarus could create additional tension in the fuel market, especially in the diesel fuel segment, which on August 7 exceeded 60,300 rubles. for t.

On August 3, the Russian Ministry of Finance published data, according to which payments to refineries from the budget under the damper mechanism in July 2023 became the highest since the beginning of the year. Payments amounted to 110.4 billion rubles. against 78.6 billion in June (an increase of 40%). In comparison with last year, the volume of payments fell by 2.2 times, and from January to July, 653 billion rubles were received from the budget. This is more than two times less than the same period last year.

Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, explained in an interview with Vedomosti that payments for the fuel damper increased in July against the backdrop of rising world oil prices, a reduction in the discount on Urals, as well as a seasonal increase in demand for fuel in the domestic market. According to his estimates, this August, payments to oilmen from the budget may also be high – their size will depend on world oil prices and the discount on Urals.