BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

30/12/2006

Belarus defiant as gas row talks begin

MOSCOW: Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said he would not tolerate Russian blackmail and vowed never to surrender as talks started in Moscow in a late attempt to settle a gas row that may disrupt supplies to Europe.

The European Commission and Germany have urged Russia and ex-Soviet neighbour Belarus to settle their differences quickly to avoid any chance of disrupting supplies to European consumers as happened last January in a similar row with Ukraine.

"I cannot say we are feeling more optimistic," said Sergei Kupriyanov, chief spokesman for state-owned Gazprom.

Gazprom is seeking a share of Belarus' pipelines and higher gas prices from 2007.

"Belarus won't bow to Gazprom's blackmail. If they keep putting pressure on us, we will go down into the bunkers, but we will not surrender," Lukashenko was quoted by Belarus' state news agency BelTA.

A Belarus Energy Ministry official said before the delegation left Minsk: "The aim is to sign a contract. We hope to do it before the New Year."

Russia, with huge energy reserves, supplies a quarter of Europe's gas to more than 20 countries with about 80 per cent of this going through Ukraine and the rest via Belarus.

Russia has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Belarus, which lies to its west, at 0700 GMT on Monday. As the dispute has escalated, Belarus has threatened retaliation by disrupting supplies crossing its territory to Europe.

The row with Belarus, hitherto a loyal Kremlin ally even as other ex-Soviet republics sought to move out of Moscow's orbit, is part of a wider drive by Gazprom to bring its prices in the former Soviet Union closer to European levels.

Source:

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=165873&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=29285