* The head of Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft, Semyon Vainshtok:
- said Belarus has siphoned off a total of 79,000 metric tons of Russian oil designated for Europe from the Druzhba pipeline going through its territory since January 6
- accused Belarus of planning to steal Russian oil in advance
* Deputy Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Sharonov said:
- talks with Belarus will start only after Minsk abolishes the transit duty of $45 per metric ton of Russian oil going through Belarusian territory
- Belarus's oil siphoning in response to Russia's failure to pay the illegally imposed duty resembles a trade war
- mutual duty-free regime and low energy prices for Belarus yielded several billion dollars annually in recent years to Belarusian budget
- Moscow might turn to international organizations to make Belarus compensate the damage it caused by tapping Russia's Europe-bound oil
- Russian companies notified their western partners that problems with oil transit via Belarus were force majeure
* Germany's economy minister, presiding over the EU council of energy ministers, warned against dramatizing the disruption of Russia's European oil supplies via Belarus
* Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov has resigned, a government official said. Under Kazakhstan's legislation, a premier's departure means resignation of the entire government
* An official in Azerbaijan's government said the State Oil Company suspended crude supplies to a Russian Black Sea terminal, saying it needed more oil to produce electricity domestically
* An arrested Taiwanese trawler with 28 people onboard has been swept by storm in Russia's Far East and run aground. Russian rescuers said the crew is out of danger
