BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/11/2006

Lukashenko Slams Gas Price Demand

The Associated Press

MINSK -- Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday warned that demands for a fourfold rise in the price of imported Russian gas meant next year could be "catastrophic" for his country.

"It will be a very tough year, catastrophically tough," Lukashenko said in a government meeting. Moscow and Minsk are at loggerheads over gas prices, with Gazprom seeking to raise prices fourfold, to $200 per 1,000 cubic meters -- a hike that would dramatically pinch Belarus' Soviet-style command economy.

Gazprom has indicated it could compromise in exchange for 50 percent of the Belarus pipeline that transports Russian gas to Western Europe.

Lukashenko called on the government to look for alternatives to Russian gas and oil and pursue talks with energy-rich Iran, Venezuela and Azerbaijan.

"We want to preserve our country for our children, our sovereignty and independence so that we aren't put up against the wall every day, month and year and shouted at: 'Pay for gas and oil,'" he said.

Source:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/11/23/048.html