MINSK, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Belarus has lost 1.5 percent of its GDP in January due to the undersupply of crude oil from Russia, Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said on Tuesday.
The premier noted that in January Belarus GDP declined by 0.5 percent compared to January 2016, while the forecast for the quarter reduction was to be not more than 0.4 percent.
According to him, the main reason that GDP was lower than in January 2016 is due to undersupply of oil from Russia.
A year ago Belarus refined 0.8 million tonnes of oil more than in January 2017. This resulted in a 3.3-percent decline in industry and 4.5 percent in wholesale trade. As a result, 1.5 percent of GDP was lost, Kobyakov said at a meeting of the Cabinet presidium in Minsk.
Differing interpretations of the formula for pricing supplies of Russian gas to Belarus gave rise to a non-payment dispute that resulted in Russia reducing crude oil supplies to Belarusian refineries nearly 20 percent to 18.6 million tonnes in 2016.
