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Russia and Belarus end oil trading row to the EU's delight

The EU breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday after Russia and Belarus ended a row over oil trading arrangements that cut Russian supplies to Europe earlier this week.

"I welcome the agreement reached between Russia and Belarus. This is good news for both countries and for the European Union," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in Brussels.

"I have been in touch with both sides during the negotiations and encouraged them to find an early solution that would avoid a negative impact on oil supplies to the European Union," he said.

The agreement, which straddles several aspects of the countries' complex oil trading arrangements, will see Minsk pay a tax of US$53 per tonne of oil that it imports from Russia.

Belarus will also pay Russia a tariff on exports of oil products made in Belarussian refineries using Russian oil.

The import tax was well below the US$180 originally demanded by Russia after Belarus attempted to impose a US$45-per-tonne tax on oil crossing its territory from Russia to Europe.

European jitters over the reliability of Russian energy supplies were exacerbated last Monday when the row led to the closure of the Droujba pipeline, the main channel for Russian oil flowing to the EU.

Supplies were disrupted for three days.

Solana said that despite the new accord between Russia and Belarus, questions remained over Europe's energy supply arrangements with Moscow.

"The interruption of oil supplies, which affected several EU member states, points to the need for a better understanding between the European Union and Russia on the basic principles of a future energy partnership," he said.

Belarussian Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Kobykov said the deal inked on Friday was a "civilised way to resolve the dispute."
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