Page 100 - RusRPTJun19

Unconfirmed reports claimed that also oil tankers departing from Ust-Luga port have carried contaminated oil, while Russian oil companies have cut output and transportation via monopoly's Transneft pipeline system.
However, the shipments of clean oil have reportedly already begun, while Russia "working to resume supplies by a pipeline to Europe," industry sources told Reuters. Other sources told that test deliveries via Druzhba pipeline have already started to Hungary's MOL energy major, with regular shipments possibly resuming on May 17.
On May 12 Ukraine said the transfers to European clients via the pipeline’s southern line were resumed to Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic. The pipeline is split into two branches in Belarus, with the northern line stretching to Poland and Germany.
Previously this month the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said his country faced “enormous” costs due to the disruptions of supplies, with compensation from Russia expected. Earlier estimated stood at $100mn, but those included only April's disruptions.
Russia's oil pipeline operator Transneft launched a criminal investigation into possible "deliberate contamination" of oil in Russia’s Druzhba pipeline to Europe, the company said on April 26. Legal experts surveyed by the Kommersant business daily believed that despite the investigation, supply contracts usually very clearly state the liable party in cases of low-quality supplies, and it would most likely be Transneft.
Venezuela reduced its debt for prepayments to Russian oil major Rosneft to US $1.8bn in January–March from $2.3bn, the Russian company said in a statement on Monday. Rosneft earlier made a $6.5bn advanced payment to Venezuela’s PDVSA for oil supplies to be delivered at the end of 2020.
The CEO of Russian natural gas giant Gazprom Alexei Miller admits that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany via the Baltic Sea could be delayed, with the launch possibly suspended from the end of 2019 into earliest January 2020, Tass reported on May 19. However, other reports say the delay could be a lot more serious and extend into the middle of 2020. As of May 15, a total of 1,241 kilometre of pipes or 50.6% of the pipeline's both lines were laid. But, as reported by bne IntelliNews, while previously Gazprom officials expressed confidence that the pipeline will be completed by the deadline of December 2019, last month the message changed to a more cautious outlook of "seeing chances of completion of Nord Stream 2 this year." "Four fifth of capital costs needed for the pipeline’s construction have already been funded. Even if there are some problems, it should be understood that they would delay the project’s terms very insignificantly," Miller said in an interview with the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel, as cited by Tass. Gazprom is rushing to complete the pipeline before the start of 2020 prior to the expiry of the gas transit agreement with Ukraine. Delays in construction of Nord Stream 2 would force Gazprom to re-negotiate the transit conditions. Should the necessary permits not be secured by August 2019, completing the pipeline in time is unlikely. Ukraine’s natural gas company Naftogaz recently told bne IntelliNews that its base case scenario is that it is expecting Gazprom to cut Ukraine off from gas completely even if the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is not completed on time. Gazprom has already secured €6bn in financing out of the previously estimated cost of €9.5bn, and received
100 RUSSIA Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com