Lukashenka Tells about Breaking Agreements with Russia :: Charter'97 :: News

Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s speech about a necessity to annul agreements with Russia, was televised on Russian First TV channel yesterday. “The delegation which is in talks today has been instructed directly by me that the companies offering such contracts at such prices on Russian oil transit to Europe would be charged additional fees, so that we could compensate for our losses,” Lukashenka said. “We know where the sensitive parts of the people who are trying to strike us. We could charge fees on tractors, refrigerators, washing machines, TV sets and other goods; we know how to charge those who are responsible for doing so,” the Belarusian ruler said.

However, today Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s press-service has rejected that it would break agreements reached with Russia on oil supply, stating that such treating the words of the president is a provocation.

The recent statements of the Belarusian leader could be reckoned as addressed to the West with a request to protect him from Russia. Earlier in an interview by a well-known political analyst Alexander Rahr in Die Welt, Alyaksandr Lukashenka calls himself the most open president in the world and says that he is not fond of posing for pictures in “gym suit for combat sports”. He admits that he should have been more reserved in some of his statements, but complains that the West has formed a flawed opinion abut him.

Lukashenka refuted statements of the Russian leadership that Russia subsidies 41% of Belarusian budget. He said that “a comedy was being acted out in Russia” and all those statements were Putin’s excuses for his population dissatisfied with turning off the energy resources tap for the sister nation. Speaking about speculating on refined products, Lukashenka noted “it is complete nonsense”. “We are buying Russian oil at world prices, we are giving even $40 more per ton than Ukraine. We consume 8 million tons, 20 million tons are refined at our refineries and sold as lubricants and fuel. Other leading industrial states, Germany in particular, are doing the same with Russian oil,” Lukashenka said.

As we have informed, Belarus stopped transit of Russian oil to Europe via pipeline Druzhba on January 8, 2007 overnight, demanding customs fees on oil transit introduced since January 1, 2007 at a rate $45 per ton. However, later Russian oil deliveries were resumed.