President of Belarus holds extensive talks with head of Rosneft Igor Sechin

23 февраля 2020
The theme of oil was continued on Tuesday. The President of Belarus met and held thorough three-hour talks with Rosneft head Igor Sechin. And this dialogue with the largest oil company of the eastern neighbor is remarkable for two reasons at once. First, it was informal, as defined by the head of state himself. There was more to discuss than strict protocol. And, secondly, they dispelled a myth invented by some media and authors in Russia who predicted almost a blockade of Belarus. It means that Moscow has put it on the black list - big business, governors and senators are forbidden to go to the ally. 

But Sechin came, as did the governor of the Arkhangelsk region. And other regional leaders are not going to avoid Minsk. Too much binds us and not just in the economy. So, this is the real, not mythical picture of the Belarusian-Russian relations. 

Last Friday the President was going to meet with Arkhangelsk Governor Igor Orlov. However, the format of the meeting, familiar to journalists, was abruptly changed when Alexander Lukashenko entered the room for talks, he said: "Putin called."

"An unexpected proposal" - this is how the Belarusian leader appreciated the conversation with his counterpart. And, of course, the most important thing is that Russia is ready to compensate for our country's losses from the oil tax maneuver, which at the moment is approximately 430 million dollars.