Page 32 - BELRptNov18

9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9..1 Oil & gas sector news
Belarus has become the largest re-exporter of Russian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), July’s trade data and official statistics show. Belarus ranked only fourth, behind Poland, Ukraine and Finland, in LPG supplies from Russia by land until 2017. It became the leader this year in Russian LPG rail imports, which far exceed its domestic demand. Russia raised LPG rail exports to Belarus to a record in May, outpacing those to Poland, which is typically the main receiver of Russian LPG, statistics showed. Rail LPG shipments from Russia to Belarus in May amounted to 107,375 tonnes compared to 86,220 tonnes sent to Poland, according to traders and government statistics. LPG imports from Belarus also helped Ukraine to save face while meeting domestic demand by not buying the fuel directly from Russia. LPG rail exports from Russia to Belarus in the second half of 2017 grew by 60% to 56,000 tonnes per month compared to the first half of the same year. In January-May of this year the deliveries grew to 79,000 tonnes per month, statistics showed. In comparison, average monthly LPG exports from Russia to Belarus in 2015-2016 were only about 20,000 tonnes respectively. LPG exports from Belarus last year grew to 637,000 tonnes from 436,000 tonnes in 2016, according to the local statistics service. Domestic demand stayed almost unchanged in 2017 at 145,000 tonnes, figures from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative showed.
Russia is the main supplier of oil and gas to Belarus. In 2017, it supplied 18mn tonnes of oil and 19bn cubic meters of natural gas to its neighbor. In the first quarter of 2018, it supplied 6 bcm of gas and 4.5mn tonnes of oil. This year, Russia is expected to supply 18mn tonnes of oil to Belarus.In 2017, Russia and Belarus agreed on annual supplies of 24mn tonnes of oil to Belneftekhim. Russia supplies only 18mn tonnes a year and promised to compensate the shortfall in revenues from export duties to Minsk for undelivered 6mn tonnes.
Russia is planning to limit exports of refined oil products to Belarus in a bid to curtail re-exports from the country , which come at the expense of the Russian budget, according to reports in August. Russia is supplying Belarus’ two refineries with around 18mn tonnes of crude oil a year to help its neighbour meet domestic needs. Supplies are not subject to export duties as Moscow and Minsk have a joint customs zone, meaning that Russia is effectively supporting its neighbour with cheap energy. Belarus raised imports of refined products from Russia in the first half of 2018 by 44% to 2mn tonnes, while imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) soared by 128% to 0.48mn tonnes.
9.1.9 Tourism sector news
32 BELARUS Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com
Belarus set to increase tourism revenue to $250m by 2020 Belarus plans to increase revenue from inbound tourism up to $250mn by 2020, according to