Landlocked Belarus is eying Latvia as its possible route to transport Venezuelan oil. Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov informed on it on Monday August 23. According to Sergei Martynov, Minsk seeks to reduce its reliance on neighboring Russia.
After meeting with his Latvian counterpart Aivis Ronis during his visit to Riga, the Belarusian Foreign Minister said that his country was «seriously interested» in creating a new «strategic transit» route through the Baltic states. «Whether it will turn out, only time will tell,» he cautioned, AFP informs.
Latvia’s southern neighbor Lithuania is due to receive in the end of this week a trial tanker shipment of almost 550,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil for Belarus. Furthermore, Lithuanian authorities said last week, is to agree a long-term contract to ship more than 13.7 million barrels a year.
Belarus has also used Estonia, the northernmost of the Baltic trio, for a trial shipment of oil to the country.
Initially, as Telegraf informed, Belarus began to transport Venezuelan crude oil «Santa Barbara» through Ukraine. The first tanker with Venezuela oil for Belarus arrived in Odessa on April 25, the second and third tanker arrived in June. Oil is transported in tanks by rail from Odessa to Mozyr oil refinery for further processing.
The seventh tanker with Venezuelan oil for Belarus arrived in the port of Odessa on August 10.
The Belarusian side also agreed on the trial shipments of Venezuelan oil in the amount of 80 thousand tons through the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda and through the Estonian port of Muuga. Oil from the Estonian port was transported by rail to Naftan oil refinery in Navapolatsk.
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