BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

05/10/2007

Lithuania Sees Belarus As Potential Ally In Energy Policies

Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said on October 4 that Minsk could be Vilnius's ally in energy policies after Russia increased gas prices for Belarus as of the beginning of this year, BNS reported. "Perhaps we are sort of allies in this area since Belarus also suffers pressure on prices, in gas and other areas, problems with crude oil supply. There are some plans being worked on. They made certain proposals on [October 3]. I think this is a common area as the transit pipelines cross Belarus," Kirkilas said in a radio interview, following the visit of Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Sikorski to Vilnius the previous day. Kirkilas also revealed that he and Sikorski discussed issues connected with the planned construction of a nuclear power plant in Lithuania and the simplification of the visa regime for some categories of Belarusians after Lithuania joins the EU's Schengen agreement by the end of this year. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/10/3-cee/cee-051007.asp

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