Minsk confirms getting information on 25% of oil supplies

Minsk has confirmed receiving information from Russia that it will cut its oil supplies to Belarus by 400,000 tonnes (25 percent) in September 2013. “The Gomeltransneft Druzhba company received a new updated schedule of work for September,” Marina Kostyuchenko, the press secretary of the Belneftekhim concern (Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry), told Itar-Tass on Thursday, August 29. The Gomeltransneft Druzhba company is a Belarusian operator of the Druzhba trunk pipeline’s southern branch. On Wednesday, Transneft Vice President Mikhail Barkov said that Russia plans to cut oil deliveries to Belarus by 400,000 tonnes in September due to repairs on the Druzhba trunk line. Transneft is Russia’s state-controlled business responsible for the national oil pipelines.