Latest Articles about Belarus
BELARUS PRESIDENT YIELDS TO RUSSIA ON THE OIL TRANSIT TERMS
On January 10, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka informed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by telephone that Belarus was canceling as of that day the transit tax on Russian oil en route to Europe. Minsk had introduced the oil transit tax on January 1 in response... MORE
OIL SUPPLY CUTOFF TO BELARUS AND EUROPE SHAKES RUSSIA’S REPUTATION FOR RELIABILITY
Conclusive evidence emerged on January 9 that Russia halted oil exports to European Union countries via Belarus during the night of January 7-8. Moscow seeks to force Belarus to accept Russian-imposed terms for oil supplies to Belarus itself as well as for the transit of... MORE
RUSSIA-BELARUS STANDOFF MAY BEGIN AFFECTING OIL TRANSIT TO EUROPE
Deliveries of Russian oil via Belarus to points West suffered several brief interruptions during January 5 through 8, causing a slight decrease in the volumes scheduled for delivery to Poland and Germany. The problem has arisen following Minsk’s introduction of a transit charge for Russian... MORE
BELARUS TRANSIT TAX RETALIATES TO RUSSIAN CUSTOMS TAX ON OIL EXPORTS
Effective January 1, the Russian government introduced an export duty of $181 per ton of crude oil delivered to Belarus. Those deliveries had been duty-free until now. Signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on December 8, 2006, the decision places oil deliveries to Belarus under... MORE
THE RUSSIA-BELARUS GAS DEAL: LUKASHENKA SUFFERS A DEFEAT
Two minutes before midnight on December 31, Russia's Gazprom and the Belarusian government signed a contract to supply Russian gas to Belarus for the next five years. Had the agreement not been signed, Gazprom had threatened to cut off gas supplies to its smaller neighbor,... MORE
LUKASHENKA OPTS FOR NUCLEAR POWER
Belarus, the Soviet republic most heavily affected by fallout from the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl, has decided to develop its own nuclear power industry. On December 1, Mikhail Myasnikovich, chairman of the National Academy of Sciences, made the announcement at a meeting concerning the... MORE
LUKASHENKA SEEKS NEW ALLIES TO END THE RUSSIAN GAS IMPASSE
Over the past few days Belarusian officials have held several high-level meetings involving Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, and Minsk played host to a summit of Commonwealth of Independent States leaders. President Alexander Lukashenka has used the period constructively, in an apparent quest to stave off... MORE
MILINKEVICH FACES NEW TASKS
The leader of the United Democratic Forces of Belarus (UDF), Alyaksandr Milinkevich, has signed an agreement with the Party of the Belarusian Popular Front. According to the leader of the initiative group for the formation of the movement "For Freedom," Viktar Karnienka, the agreement is... MORE
OFFICIAL MINSK OUTRAGED BY MOSCOW’S POLITICAL USE OF THE ENERGY LEVERAGE
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka’s visit to the Kremlin, scheduled for Friday, November 10, “will obviously be a rather difficult meeting,” according to Russia’s Ambassador in Minsk, Alexander Surikov, at a stage-setting news conference. Russia will not offer low-priced energy to Belarus, he warned, because “Russia... MORE
WILL THE OPPOSITION BOYCOTT LOCAL ELECTIONS IN BELARUS?
On January 14, 2007, voters in Belarus will again go to the polls to elect local governments. The opposition, including the United Democratic Forces (UDF) movement, is debating the wisdom of participating in another election that is little more than a façade. A majority, encouraged... MORE