Belarus Can Close Border with Russia :: Charter'97 :: News

An escalating conflict in trade and economy sphere between Belarus and Russia is undermining the foundation of the “union state” and could finally lead to establishing a full-fledged customs frontier between the states, told a deputy chairman of the Commission on International affairs and ties with the CIS of the “chamber of representatives” of the “national assembly” Anatol Krasutsky. “The steps of the both sides in the issue of Russian oil deliveries to Belarus are striking at the foundation stipulated in the framework of the “union treaty”, and affect the fundamental pillar of the union contraction, the customs union,” A. Krasutsky said to Interfax on Thursday.

The deputy of the “chamber of representatives” believes that one of the main reasons of actions taken by Russia in gas and oil deliveries to Belarus is a desire of the Russian side to obtain “tasty morsels of Belarusian property”. “Russia has accumulated rather powerful economic leverages and muscles thanks to receiving billions of petrodollars which to be invested somewhere. And there are attractive branches of economy in Belarus, which are attractive for Russian business, like oil refining, Beltrasngaz, Belaruskaliy, Belarusian metallurgic plant,” A. Krasutsky said. In this connection, as said by him, “we are witnessing an economical pressing by the Russian Federation”.

The deputy head of the parliamentary commission thinks it is well-grounded and suitable for the Belarusian side to introduce customs duties for Russian oil transit through Belarusian pipelines as a reaction to introducing export duties for oil deliveries to Belarus. A. Krasutsky also believes that this situation could have been avoided if the sides settled the problem of sharing export duties for Belarusian oil products on time. “In this case the Belarusian government was not sufficiently flexible in those issues, having showed overconfidence,” A. Krasutsky said.

“Russia has clearly demonstrated an intention to build economic relations with Belarus on market principles. That is why the desire of the Belarusian side to bill Russia for all services provided by Belarus seems entirely justified,” the MP said. In this way he has commented on the demand of Alyaksandr Lukashenka to raise the question on “Russian oil transit through Belarus, on costs of this transit, on payment for land under gas and oil pipes, and to raise question about Russian property in Belarus”.

A. Krasutsky has supposed that “the next step of Russia would be increase of railway tariffs for Belarus”. “Exchange of pinpricks would continue until the relations would be levelled off and based on market prices, or until we establish a border which would switch these relations onto a normal civilized tracke,” the “parliamentarian” said.