Russian oil deliveries to Belarus not on agenda of Union State Cabinet session on 12 December

MINSK, 10 December (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia do not plan to sign the budget for oil deliveries in 2013 at the session of the Union State Council of Ministers on 12 December. The information was released by State Secretary of the Union State Mr Grigory Rapota on 10 December, BelTA has learned.

According to Grigory Rapota, the agenda of the forthcoming session of the Union State Council of Ministers does not include the signing of the budget for delivering oil and oil products in 2013. Yet the matter will be discussed and if the sides come to terms, the document may be signed.

Grigory Rapota underlined that he had no doubts regarding the signing of the next year’s budget of oil deliveries. In his opinion, routine negotiations are now in progress and there is nothing extraordinary going on. Just like with any negotiations the sides say what they want first and then have to come to mutually acceptable terms through a discussion. Grigory Rapota is convinced that Belarus and Russia will determine the volume of deliveries of oil and oil products: “There is no doubt that the balance will be agreed. If a figure is determined, it means it satisfies both sides”. He remarked that all the parties involved in the negotiations are calm about the situation and it is mass media that are mainly to blame for the hype.

Grigory Rapota said that the agenda of the forthcoming session of the Union State Council of Ministers includes over 30 items, breaking down into three categories. The first one deals with forming the Union State budget for 2013 and the report on the year 2012 budget execution. The second one involves organizational matters concerning changes in the composition of several structures of the Union State. The third one deals with the adoption and development of new Union State programs.