The first shipment in amount of about 2,000 tonnes was imported this week by SOCAR New Energy, the company's subsidiary.

Since the elections in August, Protasevich has allegedly been targeted by the Lukashenko regime and has had criminal charges filed against him for allegedly being a terrorist. In Belarus, terrorists can face the death penalty.

The shipments declined to 68.645 million barrels per day (bpd) in January-April this year, down from 80.554 million bpd in the same period last year.