President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko offered president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Rovnag Abdullayev at a meeting on November 19 to start supplying Azerbaijan oil to Belarus at a swap scheme. "You win tens of dollars per ton, we win as well. I think it's quite natural," President of Belarus said.
Alexander Lukashenko speculated on the Azerbaijan oil pumping to Belarusian refineries by «Odessa-Brody» pipeline with access to «Druzhba» pipeline. President of Belarus stressed the country’s readiness to consider any options for cooperation with Azerbaijan on hydrocarbon raw material, BelTA informs.
«I think by the time we build our own plants for liquefaction of natural gas, Azerbaijan will be on the coast of either Georgia, or Russia, liquefying this gas, following the example of Qatar. And we will be happy to receive your natural gas,» the Belarusian leader said. According to him, it’s much cheaper than buying hydrocarbons from «Gazprom».
Alexander Lukashenko stressed that Belarus had repeatedly discussed the issue with the president of Azerbaijan. «Ilham Geidarovich has a normal attitude to this, and I think the time has come when we should take several steps forward,» the Belarusian leader said.
Alexander Lukashenko noted that Belarus prefers Azerbaijan in this regard; but if the parties fail to agree, Belarus will still be buying oil under the same terms, including the swap scheme in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
«And we’ll find companies to supply our oil, which we mine and buy in Venezuela, to the markets of America and North America. But we would like to do it with our friends,» the Belarusian leader said.
