Financial results of Belarusian oil refineries not bad in 2025 - PM

MINSK. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Belarusian oil refineries had fairly good financial results last year, taking into account state support measures and agreements with Russia, Belarusian Prime Minister Alexander Turchin said during a working meeting with the leadership of the petrochemicals industry at the Naftan Oil Refinery on Thursday.

"Last year, the government took serious measures to support oil refineries and we came to some good agreements with our partners from the Russian Federation. Taking into account other measures, this made it possible to stabilize the work of the oil refineries and achieve what I think is a decent financial result," Turchin said in his speech during the meeting, as shown in a video published by the government's press service.

The prime minister also said that the meeting with industry representatives covered topics such as development prospects for oil refineries, implementing investment projects at plants and the situation at the Belorusneft Production Association.

Belarus has two operating oil refineries, the Naftan Oil Refinery and Mazyr Oil Refinery. Thanks to modernization work in 2020-2023, their collective oil refining capacity reached 24 million tonnes and they began producing gasoline with an octane number of 95 and above.

In April of last year, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to regulate the prices of Russian oil exports to Belarus, allowing Belarusian oil refineries to operate with a 7%-8% margin.

In mid-October, Turchin announced that Belarus and Russia had finished talks on creating conditions in which for local oil refineries to work effectively in the medium term.

In December, Lukashenko criticized the lack of new breakthrough projects at the country's oil refineries. "So far, there is weak demand in the petrochemicals industry. Since the modernization of the oil refineries, there have been no groundbreaking projects. I see that you are slowly killing the chemical fiber industry as well. All of these production enterprises are important for the future of Belarus," Lukashenko said, addressing the Belarusian people and parliament.