Contents tagged with Belarus
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Russian-Belarusian oil transit negotiations end with no results
Russian and Belarusian representatives were unable to reach an agreement regarding oil transit tariffs for 2020 during their negotiations in Minsk on Monday.
Citing a source familiar with the proceedings, BelTA reports that Belarus demanded a tariff increase, citing the oil contamination incident last year, which caused downtime on the Druzhba pipeline and damage to the equipment of Belarusian oil refineries.
The parties are currently discussing a 16.6% tariff hike, a source told Interfax. …
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Belarusian President Lukashenko displeased by Gazprom’s gas price hike
At an awards ceremony yesterday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the situation surrounding the price of Russian gas, in which Russia’s Gazprom earns “three times as much” from supplying fuel to Belarus as to Germany, is abnormal.
Commenting on the gas price negotiations, Lukashenko accused the Russian concern of earning three times as much in Belarus as in Germany. “Is this normal? It’s abnormal,” BelTA cites the president as saying.
The parties have currently agreed to …
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Lukashenko decides to pay for Russian gas using Belarusian rubles
Belarus is aiming to stop paying for Russian gas in US dollars and start using Belarusian rubles in its contracts with Gazprom.
This goal was included in the “Strategy for increasing faith in the national currency until 2035” which was compiled by the Belarusian government and National Bank and approved on January 3.
The Belarusian ruble, introduced in 1994, has suffered from chronic devaluation and at present has “completely stopped fulfilling the function of money”. As much as 60% of the …
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Belarus resumes oil deliveries from Russia
Deliveries of oil from Russia to Belarus’s Naftan oil refinery in the Vitebsk Region resumed on the evening of January 4, said Vladimir Sizov, deputy head of the Belarusian state oil concern Belneftekhim, as cited by BelTA.
According to him, the pumping units were switched on at 17:05. “Oil deliveries towards Naftan have begun. As routing instructions are issued, quantities will be added and will be delivered even to the Mozyr refinery,” Sizov added.
News that oil deliveries to Belarus had …
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Lukashenko: NATO will not allow Russia to violate Belarus’s sovereignty
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that the West and NATO would respond accordingly if Russia tried to violate the sovereignty of Belarus.
“Classic threats to sovereignty always exist, even for Russia. But I do not feel like the threat to Belarus’s sovereignty is growing. If this threat from Russia, as some people say, arises, and suddenly it tries to violate our sovereignty, you know what the reaction of not only the global community will be – they will get drawn into the …
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Russia in talks with Belarus on extending lease agreement for two military facilities
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that Russia might keep the right to use two military facilities on Belarusian territory next year. These two military facilities are the Vileyka VLF transmitter and Missile Attack Early Warning System site in Hantsavichy which houses Volga-type Radar Station.
According to the Belarusian Defense Ministry, negotiations and consultations on this issue are continuing. The extension of the agreements of January 6, 1995, which entered into force on June 7, 1996, …
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Russia and Belarus one step away from oil war
Moscow and Minsk have been unable to agree on the terms under which Russian oil will be supplied to Belarusian refineries, and the deliveries could even stop at the start of the new year, Reuters reported, citing six sources in the industry.
On the morning of December 31, not a single ton of Russian oil was registered for Belarus, said two sources familiar with the registration of route instructions.
There have been numerous obstacles in the negotiations which Moscow links to the integration …
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Belarus and NATO discuss joint military exercises
The Belarusian Defense Ministry has reported about the talks with NATO on holding joint exercises next year.
TASS reports that the parties are discussing the joint "peacekeeping exercises" as part of the Belarusian military training in the Italian NATO contingent.
It is expected that the Belarusian unit will be part of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon.
"Speaking about conducting joint exercises with NATO, we are not talking about preparation yet, but about the negotiation process, …
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As talks with Russia stall Lukashenko orders Belarus officials to start looking for alternative oil supplies
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed the heads of the Belarusian petrochemical industry to ensure the supply of oil from alternative sources within the next few days, reports the BelTA news agency. In the first place, Belarus officials consider delivering oil from the Baltic Sea port terminals by rail.
Head of the Belneftekhim concern Andrei Rybakov said that after telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko instructed to complete negotiations …
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Opponents of Belarus' integration with Russia intend to create ‘Homeland Protection Group’
Protests against deeper integration with the Russian Federation continued in Minsk on Saturday, December 21. Even though the authorities did not approve the rally, no one was detained.
Just over a hundred people attended the demonstration. People were holding national white-red-white flags, shouting the slogans "long live Belarus!" and "No alliances with Imperial Russia." "No Union with the aggressor," said one of the posters of opponents of Belarusian integration with Russia
The protesters …