lukashenko’s Oil Dream in Siberia Has Turned into Tens of Millions of Dollars in Losses

For decades, minsk has wanted to have its own oil fields outside the country. It didn’t work out in Venezuela or Iran. Eventually, it succeeded in siberia – and in 2013, “belorusneft” acquired the bankrupt oil company “yangpur” at a russian auction, along with licenses for production in the khanty-mansi autonomous okrug. 2025 showed that that was lukashenko’s yet another economic mistake.

“yangpur” ended last year with $18 million in losses – a record figure in its entire history under belarusian management. The company also accumulated nearly $5.5 million in tax debt to the russian treasury.

“belorusneft”’s oilfield services subsidiary, “belorusneft-sibir”, has been operating in siberia since 2008. In 2025, it incurred $14.5 million in losses – also a record. This amount exceeds the total net profit the company has earned over the years of its operations in the russian north. In addition, there are over $10 million in debts to equipment suppliers and utility services, as well as more than 120 lawsuits filed in 2025 and early 2026.

Third on this list is the construction company “belseverstroy”, a subsidiary of “yangpur”. Its losses for 2025 amounted to $1.5 million, its tax debt exceeds half a million dollars, and it is mentioned as a co-defendant in some of the lawsuits filed against the parent company.

The combined total for the three entities amounts to nearly $34 million in losses over the course of a single year. This is the worst result in the entire history of the belarusian oil industry in russia. Investments made over decades have not only failed to pay off – they have resulted in record losses at precisely the moment when minsk needs cash flow the most, rather than new debt.