Meeting with Belarus’ Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Vladimir Semashko on 21 February.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We are going to make calculations now after negotiations with Putin and his proposal. Simple enough to calculate our losses from the reduced customs duty on oil. We lose roughly $420-430 million considering we are supposed to receive 24 million tonnes of Russian oil this year.”

“Putin suggested they will compensate the money to Belarus. He admitted it was only fair,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.

Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned Vladimir Putin had said the compensation would come out of the pockets of Russian companies. “At the expense of Russian companies? Fine. At least we make progress. And we will keep working on it,” the Belarusian leader added.