OREANDA-NEWS. The head of Transneft, Nikolai Tokarev, is skeptical of the possibility of using the Druzhba pipeline system for reverse oil supplies to Belarus from other countries. This Tokarev told reporters.

“Even theoretically, this cannot be done, because too many parties are involved in this technological process. There are Poles, here we are, Belarusians are here. And shippers. In our opinion, that would be wrong, to say the least”, Tokarev said. "Secondly, in order to realize this even by technology, it will be necessary to install other pumps", he added.

Due to the fact that Belarus and Russia didn't conclude an agreement on the terms of oil supplies in 2020, from January 1, Russian oil supplies to Belarusian refineries were stopped, and later they were partially resumed by Mikhail Gutseriev’s Safmar group oil companies. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko instructed the government to work out options for alternative supplies of raw materials. The Belarusian authorities said that they had sent oil import proposals to the Baltic countries, Poland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.