“Transneft” will construct the pipeline bypassing Belarus
The “Transneft” company has approved the civil-engineering design of an oil pipeline to the Europe around of Belarus. The president of the company has informed mass-media about this.
The chief of “Transneft” has declared that they have made such decision and they will develop the Baltic pipeline system. He has also emphasized, that it is a question “of increase in carrying volume of the port terminal at 50 million tons of oil “which now passes nearby 75 million tons of oil a year.
According to the company’s management, the technical department has approved the declaration on intentions under the project; prospecting works on February, 12th should begin.
Of course the president of the company and his colleagues understand that the project of the new pipeline would cost a great sum of money, but it obviously is needed.
The chief of Minromenergo, according to whom “it is one of the variants of replacement of a direction of oil export″, has declared about the opportunity of increase in deliveries of oil the nearest 2-3 years in the Baltic direction up to 110 million tons. And the president of the Russian Federation V. Putin has informed that “Transneft” (under his assignment) has started development of the plan on expansion of transshipment terminals in Primorsk on 50 million tons. The Head of the state then has noted that Russia is measured to search for ways of a direct output on consumers of power resources in the Western Europe.
Let’s remind, that the conflict between Moscow and Minsk in a question of transit of oil and gas through territory of Belarus in the beginning of January 2007, has led to that deliveries of raw material in the countries of the Western Europe have been interrupted for 2 days. It was possible to renew them only after negotiations between the heads of the governments of two states.