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| - Belarus is seeking to diversify its oil supply to reduce dependence on Russian oil, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday, as Minsk and Moscow remained tangled in their latest energy dispute. "It's true there is no current alternative to Russian oil supplies. But... we have to diversify," Lukashenko said in a statement on the presidency's website. While Belarus until recently imported all its oil from Russia at a special reduced rate, with Russian prices set to go up it is now aiming for a new ratio of "30 to 40 percent of oil from Russia, 30 percent from the Baltic states and 30 percent from Ukraine." Russia and Belarus are neighbours and allies but their close relationship has often been shaken by energy disputes. In early January, deliveries of Russian oil supplies were interrupted for several days after a contract setting prices and volumes ran out. A new contract has since been signed, but its terms are not known, and speculation is rife that it may only ensure partial supplies and only for the month of January. Putin and Lukashenko met several times at the end of last year to hammer out an agreement, without success. Belarus's state energy firm Belneftekhim confirmed to AFP an initial purchase of 80,000 tonnes of Norwegian oil, the first time Minsk has taken such a step. It will transit via Lithuania. Minsk up to now has bought 24 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia per year, 6 million tonnes for its own use. The rest it refined and exported, a considerable money-earner for the economically-challenged country. Belarus receives Russian oil via the Druzhba, or Friendship pipeline, one of the largest in the world which also transports supplies to numerous European countries including Germany and Poland. tk-apo/tbm/am/rl
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