BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

13/12/2007

Putin wants to unite Russia and Belarus?

President Putin is meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Aleksandr Lukashenko on Thursday to discuss the future of a union between the two countries.

The two leaders will focus on a draft constitution of the union, as well as the future deliveries of Russian gas to Belarus.

Experts say the union would hardly be a merger of equals. Belarusian economy is far behind Russia's, with a 2006 GDP being $US 30 billion being just a fraction of Russia's $US 730 billion.

"If you take away the subsidies, the Belarusian economy would collapse within six months. As of the end of last year Russian subsidies to Belarus amounted $US 8 billions a year. To put it in context, it is comparable to Russia receiving unconditional subsidies of about $US 300 billion annually," informed Andrey Sudaltsev from Higher School of Economics.

Source:

http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/18435