Alexey Belogoryev, Deputy Principal Director on Energy Studies commented to News.ru on the prospects for the Belarusian oil products transit through the Baltic ports.
Belarus is trying to use the idea of transferring export flows to Russian ports, because there are no other breakthrough ideas for economic cooperation between the countries, says Aleksey Belogoryev, Deputy Director on Energy Studies at the Institute for Energy and Finance.
I do not believe in the long-term nature of this idea, I think that it will remain at the level of a political game. Some volumes of oil products may go to Russia, but for Minsk there is no economic sense in this. Belarus plays to our political interests, wants to show that it is ready to reorient itself from the Baltic countries, with which we have difficult relations, to Russia. In my opinion, this is more of a PR campaign than a real project.
Transferring exports to Russia is beneficial for ports, as well as for Russian Railways, since this is a profitable line of business. But the cumulative effect can be small, perhaps tens of millions of dollars a year. In terms of the state interests, the benefit on the scale of Russia is quite small, - Alexey Belogoryev noted.
In addition, according to him, investments in new capacities for transshipment of oil products may be needed, and this requires guarantees that it will be long-term - at least for five years. Meanwhile, Minsk does not want to give any guarantees.
The reorientation to Russian ports can only be temporary and short-term, Alexey Belogoryev agreed. It just doesn't make economic sense in the long run, he concluded.
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