Russia will not make Lukashenka «kick the bucket» :: Charter'97 :: News

Alyaksandr Lukashenka declared that the Belarusian party had to demand from Russia payments for services rendered to this country. “Without fuss and ambitions, subject to the international law principles we must insist on the payment,” Lukashenka announced at his meeting with the government in Navapolotsk on Tuesday. According to him, the government today must struggle and not “kick the bucket” crying “oh, my!”

According to him, in particular, Russia has to pay for the land housing its oil and gas pipelines.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka stated that “all arrangements on oil and gas are not beneficial to us in comparison with the previous year.“ Lukashenko stressed, in particular, that Belarus was to increase the payment for gas deliveries by USD 2.5 billion and for oil - by USD 1 billion.

“These are USD 3.5 billion and not those fragile figures given by the President of Russia,” announced Lukashenka. ”We should not lose those USD 3.5 billion, but we shall neither loose the temper while searching for profit,” he emphasized.

Lukashenka considers that “we shall not quarrel with Russia”. ”If any of the Russian oil companies does not want to cooperate with Belarus, we should make them pay for transporting their oil to Europe, “ Belarusian ruler said.

“I have been also told that Veinshtok (Semion Veinshtok , chief of the “Transneft” Joint-Stock Company) declared that he would not pump the oil of the companies cooperating with Belarus. Then we shall not transport his ( S. Veinshtok’s ) oil. You pump our 20 million tons but we pump your 80 million tons,” concluded Lukashenka.

“Nobody won in this conflict, neither Belarus nor Russia”, remarked Lukashenka. To his mind, ”we succeeded in establishing a concrete price for oil.” ”It is profitable both for the business and the budget. Then who interferes with your functioning today? ” Lukashenka asked.

According to Lukashenka , the oil clash showed that “the crime” is that Sidorsky (Sergei Sidorsky, prime minister of Belarus) and Semashka ( Uladzimir Semashka-deputy prime minister of Belarus) were previously buying oil for higher prices. Higher by USD 60-80 dollars –that is bad, we should admit this,” the president remarked.

According to him the government today must struggle and not “ kick the bucket” crying “oh, my!”

Lukashenka also said “ Russia has got its natural resources from God .We were not given them by God, but we have been given another strategic resource –our geographical geopolitical location and we must employ it the way Russia employs its resources.”

He also added “we have to fight, let it be either “hot” or “cold” war.”

If, according to Lukashenka, the government is not going to do this “then let us agree with Russia’s proposition and become Russia’s another state or region”. ”But nobody will make us kneel down,” announces Lukashenka.