Belarus, EU – Baltic States, Lithuania, Logistics, Oil, Port, Transport

"Due to unfavorable weather conditions, the tanker will not be brought into the port of Klaipeda this night. We plan to do so tomorrow at around 8 a.m.," she said in a statement.

Based on information from marinetraffic.com, the Breiviken tanker is now near Klaipeda, awaiting permission to enter the port.

The tanker is bringing around 80,000 of crude oil for Belarus' Naftan refinery.

From the Lithuanian port, the crude will be transported to Belarus by rail by LG Cargo, the freight transportation of Lithuania's state-owned railway company Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways).

Russia suspended oil supplies to Belarus' refineries on January 1 but partially restored them several days later, after Moscow and Minsk failed to agree on the terms of supplies for 2020.

The Belarusian authorities said last week they had sent oil import proposals to the Baltic countries, Poland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday his country will seek to ensure that oil imported from Russia made 30-40% of its needs, and the country should import 30% via the Baltic states and Ukraine each.

Belarus imported 17.6 mln tons of oil from Russia last year.

On Monday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told that Lithuania could offer an alternative for both Russian oil and gas imports for Belarus. The minister plans to discuss the issue during his upcoming visit to Minsk in early February.