Russia is ready to resume oil supplies to Belarus under the conditions set in 2019, according to an anonymous source close to negotiations between Moscow and Minsk.

Under the terms of last year, Belarus’ spending will be 1.6 billion USD lower in 2020 compared to imports from another country, relative to market prices and transportation costs. The value is based on a full-year supply of 24 million tonnes of oil. Russia terminated oil supplies to Belarus on January 1 after the expiration of the current contract, with the two countries now negotiating a new agreement.

Yesterday Belarus announced that it was close to negotiating an initial delivery from a Russian company without having to pay in advance. In the last years, the former Soviet republic has been buying oil from Russia on terms similar to those of Russia’s independent refineries.

Russia’s pipeline operator Transneft is considering executing a request for the supply of 133 million tonnes of light crude oil to Belarus’s refinery Naftan, the Russian company said in an official statement. Rusneft and Neftisa, controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriyev, are also likely to supply oil for the same refinery.

Belarus, which has traditionally relied on energy supplies from Russia, thinks it will lose out on changes in Russia’s taxation. Of the 24 million tonnes of oil, which Belarus received under the previous treaty, 18 million tonnes were for the Belarusian state refineries. The rest was intended for export to other countries, but the Kremlin decided to suspend deliveries under such conditions. Moreover, Moscow insists on deepening economic integration between the two countries, which provoked public discontent in Belarus and protests were held in Minsk.