In H1 2010 the workload at Belarusian oil refineries totaled 1.6 million tonnes per month, said Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky as he met with representatives of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus on 25 August.

“This year began with 1.2 million tonnes while last year we did 2 million tonnes. In January-June 2010 we loaded the refineries to almost 1.6 million tonnes,” said Sergei Sidorsky.

In his words, the government is working out a system of measures to allow the oil refineries to work harder. “We got 6.8 million tonnes of duty-free oil for the domestic market but it is insufficient for developing the economy on the whole and the export potential,” said Sergei Sidorsky.

The Prime Minister also said that Belarus had started working with the countries it had not worked before. Ways to deliver oil via different routes are being developed. “It’s become complicated but we are managing. Anyway, we are doing our best, using swap schemes and other mechanisms to give more work to the oil refineries,” said the Belarusian head of government.

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