BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/01/2010

Moscow, Minsk aim for deal on electricity transit to Kaliningrad

Russian and Belarusian officials meet in Minsk on Tuesday for discussions on electricity transit through Belarus, with both sides hopeful an agreement can be reached soon.

The tone of the negotiations, which center on Russian electricity supplies to its exclave of Kaliningrad but also concern transit to the Baltic States via Belarus, is very different to the bitter wrangling over a pricing structure for oil deliveries in 2010.

A Belarusian Energy Ministry spokeswoman said the negotiating positions were not far apart and the dialog was constructive.

"We expect that an agreement will be reached very soon," Lyudmila Kovich said.

After the last round of talks, in Moscow on Thursday, an official for Russian electricity producer Inter RAO UES called the negotiations "measured."

Belarusian electricity monopoly Belenergo said on January 4 that inconsistencies in supplies to Kaliningrad might force it to stop transit of electricity via the Belarusian grid.

The warning followed the collapse of talks on New Year's Eve on an agreement for crude oil deliveries in 2010. The confrontation over oil tariffs has still not been resolved, despite several rounds of talks.

Each side blames the other for the failure of the negotiations. Russia has offered to supply oil for domestic use duty free, but wants Belarus to pay the full rate for the remaining supplies, which are refined and then exported.

The preferential rates Minsk received in 2009 provided an essential lift to its struggling economy. This year it argues that under the new Customs Union with Russia and Kazakhstan all deliveries should be duty free.

MOSCOW, January 19 (RIA Novosti)

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100119/157608320.html


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