Ukraine, Belarus sign oil transit deal
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Andrei Klyuyev and First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko signed an intergovernmental agreement yesterday in Kiev on measures to develop cooperation in oil transit via Ukraine to Belarus.
According to Klyuyev, the parties finalized all issues set out in the cooperation action plan, and also discussed all arrangements reached by the presidents of the two nations, Viktor Yanukovich and Alexander Lukashenko, at their recent meetings. The next meeting between Klyuyev and Semashko is scheduled for early September, by which time the sides expect to have finished a few cooperation agreements.
As reported earlier, Belarus has been getting oil carried in tankers with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes each to Odessa, Ukraine, since April 2010. According to agreements reached between Ukraine and Belarus, the oil will then be transported to Kremenchug, and then carried by rail to Belarusian oil refineries.
