The Republic of Belarus is not a large oil-producing state, but it has industrial facilities that transport, store, and process oil. Oil and its refined products are the most common pollutants contaminating the biosphere and creating serious environmental problems. The total length of oil pipelines within the territory of Belarus is 2.9 thousand km. In recent years more than 10 accidents resulting in oil spills have been reported for main crude oil and refined product pipelines, which led to significant soil contamination with hydrocarbons, varying from minor (under 5 mg/kg) to high (over 100,000 mg/kg) values. The mechanism of self-recovery of the ecosystems affected by oil pollution is long-lasting and rather complicated. The need for development and implementation of the technologies of remediation of environments exposed to oil contamination is very urgent for Belarus. The degradation of oil in the soil can be accelerated by promoting the metabolic activity of the natural microflora and applying the oil-degrading microorganisms. The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of the following microbial stains of potential oil degraders: Rhodococcus ruber 1NG-30P, Васillus subtilis 2-4-201N, Rhodococccus wratislaviensis G-13, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 4NG-PSD, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BP 1.1 and Gordonia alkanivorans BP 1.2. The hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms isolated from oil-contaminated soil possessed a high decomposing activity for a wide range of xenobiotics, and they were capable of active degradation of the Belarusian oil (with the density of 0.91 g/cm3) at concentrations 1-10%. In batch cultures in liquid mineral medium containing 0.125% hexadecane, the strains of R. ruber 1NG-30P, R. wratislaviensis G-13 and G. alkanivorans BP 1.2 reached the biomass levels of 7.6, 7.6 and 7.2 g/l, respectively. The strains of В. subtilis 2-4-201N, B. amyloliquefaciens 4NG-PSD and B. amyloliquefaciens BP 1.1 had the biomass concentrations of 6.7, 6.4 and 6.1 g/l, respectively. Amplification of the gene region using primers nifH-1F and nifH-1R showed that a specific PCR product with the size of ~ 430 bp. was present only in the positive control (Rhanella aquatilis B-704) and in Rh. wratislaviensis G13, and was not in the other strains. Based on the obtained data, it was suggested that Rh. wratislaviensis G13 was a nitrogen fixer, since it had the nifH gene, responsible for the synthesis of nitrogenase. The biochemical analysis demonstrated the ability of the studied strains to produce indolyl-3-acetic acid. Indolyl-3-acetic acid production was 10.5, 7.2, 5.4, 5.2, 1.8 and 0 μg/ml for B. subtilis 2-4-201 N, B. amyloliquefaciens BP 1.1, B. amyloliquefaciens 4NG-PSD, Rh. wratislaviensis G13, Rh. ruber 1NG-30P and G. alkanivorans BP 1.2, respectively, and this ability indicated their plant growth promotion activity. Thus, the strains of R. ruber 1NG-30P, B. subtilis 2-4-201N, R. wratislaviensis G-13, B. amyloliquefaciens 4NG-PSD, B. amyloliquefaciens BP 1.1 and G. alkanivorans BP 1.2 can use oil and other xenobiotics as the only source of energy, and, consequently, can be used for minimization of the consequences of oil spills in soil. Their beneficial effect on plant growth opens additional perspectives in the field of soil bioremediation aimed at the restoration of soil biological activity and fertility.