MINSK — Belarus sent a delegation to Moscow on Tuesday for talks to resolve an oil dispute that has disrupted crude shipments to Belarussian refineries and renewed fears of winter supply problems for the European Union.
"The delegation will fly today," Belarussian government spokesman Alexander Timoshenko said by telephone, adding that the delegation included the head of Belarus' Belneftekhim state oil company, Valery Kazakevich.
The Belarussian government spokesman said a written proposal on oil supplies had been sent to Moscow and First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko was ready to fly to Russia to sign the documents should a deal be reached.
He declined to give details on the proposal.
Russia briefly cut oil supplies to Belarussian refineries this month in a dispute over Soviet-style oil subsidies from Moscow to Belarus worth at least $2.5 billion a year.
Russia on Monday said supplies had been restarted, and Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said European Union supplies from West Siberian oil fields were flowing as normal.
But Sechin, who holds sway over the oil and gas sector of the world's biggest energy producer, warned that there was still no agreement on oil pricing with Belarus.