BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/01/2007

Belarus Says Compromise Reached, While Moscow Demurs

January 10, 2007 -- Belarus says a compromise has been found to resolve the oil-transit dispute with Russia.

The office of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said the compromise was reached during a telephone conversation today between Lukashenka and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The statement said the prime ministers of the two countries have been instructed to work out concrete proposals to end the dispute and to present them to Lukashenka and Putin on January 12.

The Kremlin press service confirmed the telephone conversation took place, at Lukashenka's request. But it said the presidents discussed "questions of economic cooperation, including in the energy sphere, among them problems with the transit of Russian oil through Belarus."

The dispute began after Belarus demanded a transit fee for Russian oil shipped across its territory. It disrupted oil supplies to several European Union countries and Ukraine.

The Belarusian cabinet met today reportedly to review the oil-transit charge.

Slovakia's Transpetrol company said Russian oil deliveries to Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline were expected to resume later today.

(compiled from agency reports)

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/01/37304d3c-a996-4979-92cd-fd718c87a37e.html