The Belarusian leader said his country can implement joint projects in the sphere of oil and gas field development. “I received support on these issues from my Azerbaijani counterpart,” he said.

Belarus aims to diversify its oil supplies to become less dependent on Russia, its main supplier. Russia cut off supplies to the Baltic States’ only refinery in July after an accident on a pipeline that runs through Belarus, since when it has not resumed oil flows to Mazeikiu Nafta, which has been widely viewed as a response to the Lithuanian government’s decision to sell the Baltic refinery complex to a Polish firm, rejecting rival bids from Russian crude producers. In mid-October, a fire broke out in the refinery, causing millions of dollars worth of damage, and putting in further doubt the purchase of Mazeikiu Nafta by Poland’s PKN Orlen.