BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/12/2007

Putin in Belarus - no plans for unification agreement - Summary

Minsk - Russian President Vladimir Putin's Friday visit to Belarus will not produce a unification agreement between the two countries, the Belapan news agency reported citing a Kremlin official. The Russian leader arrived in Minsk, the capital of the former Soviet republic, on Thursday evening.

Russian and Belarusian media had widely predicted the main outcome of Friday talks scheduled between Putin and Belarusian leader Aleksander Lukashenko would be a treaty between the two countries setting a timetable for their unification.

The day's talks will in fact cover a "wide range" of issues between the two countries, but Belarus' becoming part of Russia is not even on the agenda, according to the report.

Putin and Lukashenko met on Thursday evening immediately after Putin's arrival for a short session of one-on-one talks at Lukashenko's official residence. It was the first visit by the Russian leader to Belarus since 2003.

Riot police broke up two groups of less than a dozen protestors each as Putin's motorcade moved about the Belarusian capital under unprecedented security.

Entire Minsk boulevards were blocked to motorists by traffic police, and throughout the city centre a uniformed cop was stationed in front of practically every single building.

The two leaders on Friday morning jointly chaired a meeting of the High State Council (HSC) of Russia and Belarus, a bilateral agency responsible for coordinating trade, energy, and military policy between the two countries.

The main topic, however, was likely to be a possible "assistance credit" provided by Russia to Belarus to assist Minsk in paying for Russian energy imports.

The size of the credit, yet to be approved, has been reported at between 500 million and 1.5 billion dollars.

Other themes planned for delegation discussion throughout the day included the 2008 HSC budget, a memorandum on economic cooperation, and agreements on medical supplies trade, railroad tariffs, and banking.

Energy was another possible subject of talks, as the two countries' relationship has repeatedly become heated as a result of increasing Russian prices for oil and gas delivered to Belarus.

Russian oil shipments to Europe via Belarus came to a full halt early this year as a result of a failure between Moscow and Minsk to agree on pricing. Spot prices spiked across most of Eastern Europe as a result.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has taken an increasingly powerful stake in Belarus' gas transportation network during 2007, hiking gas prices to Belarus and then acquiring a 50 per cent holding in the Belarusian state-run gas pipeline network Beltransgaz for 2.5 billion dollars, funds needed by Minsk to pay for the gas.

Opposition groups had spoken out against Putin's visit as proof of weakening Belarusian sovereignty in the face of increasing Russian assertiveness.

State-controlled Belarusian media played up the Putin visit as evidence that Lukashenko's rule kept Belarus on an equal footing with its powerful eastern neighbour.

Lukashenko in recent months has faced an upswell of complaints against his rule, stemming from a cost-saving measure planning the cancellation of payments to Chernobyl victims and retired persons - previously the grass roots source of his popularity.

Source:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/158806.html