Report of Belorusneft Director General Aleksandr Lyakhov

The Belarusian industrial group Belorusneft has been doing well and needs to continue expanding its opportunities every year, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Belorusneft Director General Aleksandr Lyakhov to receive his report on 6 September. Attending the meeting was also Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova.

“It was a sad moment in the history of the company. I still believe that it was a sad moment when, after the discovery of the promising fields in Belarus, we (even before us) produced more than 8 million tonnes of oil. We pumped out our oil because we mistakenly believed that we had a sea of oil in Belarus. Maybe we have something there. Maybe there is some sea that we have not yet found. This is the main topic of today's meeting. But if we produced 8-9 million tonnes of oil today, we would live better than the richest countries on our planet. But, alas, there is no such thing," the Belarusian leader said.

Belarus may be able to increase oil extraction up to 3-3.5 million tonnes per annum by developing new oil deposits in the years to come, the President is convinced.

“I am deeply interested in and concerned about the problem of the Pripyat Trough. I have a gut feeling there is oil over there that we don’t see yet,” the head of state said.

He went on saying: “You’ve studied this problem. If you suggest something, I am ready to be directly involved in it. But in a way to increase oil extraction up to at least 3-3.5 million tonnes per annum [about 1.6 million tonnes per annum at present] in your lifetime and mine. It is a solution of the problem for the country. We will forget about any dependence. And if we build another nuclear power plant, the country will have everything it needs. Especially energy. Although we have yet to consume the energy of this nuclear power plant. But future belongs to electric vehicles.”

The Belorusneft director general said that for the last four years the company has been increasing oil extraction in Belarus’ territory by 20,000 tonnes. “We once reached a plateau of 1,640,000 tonnes five years ago. This year we intend to extract at least 1,730,000 tonnes. We intend to keep increasing oil extraction in Belarus like this for the next few years,” the executive said.

According to Aleksandr Lyakhov, the oil extraction increase rate depends on a number of factors. “Such as the success of geological exploration work in the traditional zone in the northern trough – Rechitsa, Svetlogorsk, Oktyabrsky. In the last ten years we started working in the area of Khoiniki District. We’ve been discovering virtually 2-3 oil fields around Khoiniki every year for the last few years. Oil extraction in the area has virtually reached 70,000 tonnes. We are trying to secure the levels we’ve reached,” he said.

Generally speaking, the President said that he had no big complaints about Belorusneft: “Maybe, I am not that deep into the details. But if something was wrong, I would have been reported and informed immediately. There are no big complaints, except for one: we have to expand our operations every year, and not only abroad.”

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, he may raise a number of issues related to the oil sector during the upcoming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 9 September. During a meeting with Aleksandr Lyakhov the Belarusian head of state asked if there were any topics worth discussing in this regard.

“You are doing very well in the Russian Federation. You have gone from well repair works to oil production. Tell me how things are there. This is a very important topic for me ahead of the meeting with the Russian President. Perhaps, you will have some suggestions that will be of interest to Russia and Belarus. I will discuss them with him,” the head of state said.

 “You have started extracting oil in the Russian Federation. If you need any support in this regard and if you have any suggestions, I am ready to help,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

At the meeting with Aleksandr Lyakhov the President emphasized that the industrial group Belorusneft should continue actively developing the infrastructure for charging electric vehicles in Belarus. The President promised he would help the company to deal with excessive red-tape and bureaucracy.

Aleksandr Lukashenko told Aleksandr Lyakhov: “I thank you for taking care of the charging stations. I see that serious progress has been made but today we will remove any red-tape and any bureaucracy. Feel free to talk openly about it. You are also a senator. If you need support, you will get it. The head of the Council of the Republic will always support you. She will forward any document to me directly if necessary. Or she will promote various ideas to the government.”

The Belarusian leader noted: “But we cannot let this trend with electric vehicles wither. And electric vehicles need fast charging stations. Very fast. It seems we can make [the equipment] in Vitebsk. This work should be done more actively then.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that quality of the products is important. “High-quality products need to be made. Don’t allow selling poor-quality products on the Belarusian market and don’t allow others to do it particularly in the matters you are directly related to,” the head of state added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also stated that Belorusneft, as well as other major companies, should engage in development of the territories and the social sector. “You know that our country is Slavic. These people have never been rich,” he said

The President recalled that the same approach was used recently during the opening of a new Belaruskali mining and processing plant in Petrikov: “The territory, the lands, the villages and Petrikov itself have been cleaned up. Of course, not everything has been done yet, but it is nice to visit Petrikov today. It is already a modern city and has a prospect of development.”

The private company Slavkaliy, which develops a deposit near Luban, is facing similar tasks.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that Belorusneft operates mainly in Gomel Oblast, many areas of which were affected by the Chernobyl disaster. “Think about the efforts you will make to help this region. At least in the places where you work. I know you do quite a lot. But you understand: these are poor areas. You cannot get rich from agriculture. But they do a great job. So, of course, we need to help them,” the Belarusian leader said.