Russian oil 'flowing again'

Russian oil began flowing again through a Belarusian pipeline late tonight, a top Belarusian oil official said.

Alexei Kostuchenko, general director of pipeline concern Gomeltransneft-Druzhba, said Russian oil entered the Belarusian system at around 8.30pm Irish time and was being pumped to Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

He did not give any details about the volume being moved.

The move came hours after the Belarusian government lifted a transit tax on Russian oil shipments and indicated an end to a dispute that caused relations between Minsk and Moscow to plummet and sent ripples of doubts across Europe.

There was no immediate word from Russian oil officials about the resumption of oil flows.