Belarus introduces environmental tax on transit of oil and oil products

Belarus has introduced an environmental tax on the transportation and transit of oil and oil products through its territory. This is reported by Economic Truth.

The corresponding message is on the website of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

In order to form a source of funds for eliminating possible environmental consequences in the case of an accident on a main oil pipeline or other unforeseen situations related to the movement of oil and oil products through the territory of Belarus, the profit tax rate is established for organizations transporting oil and oil products in the amount of 50%”, the press service said.

It is noted that the transit of oil and oil products through Belarus by main pipelines is also recognized as an object of environmental taxation.

The transit of Russian oil through Druzhba pipeline through Belarus is about 60 million tons per year – this is one of the key export destinations for the Russian Federation. Raw materials are supplied to refineries in Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Russia supplies about 18 million tons of oil per year to the Belarusian refineries.

Recall that Russia and Belarus have not yet been able to agree on the cost of oil supplies. Belarus temporarily suspended oil exports due to a shortage of raw materials at its own refineries.