BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

11/01/2007

Russian, Belarusian premiers begin talks on bilateral trade

MOSCOW, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - Talks between the Russian and Belarusian prime ministers on lifting barriers in bilateral trade started at the Russian Government House Thursday.

Mikhail Fradkov and Sergei Sidorsky are heading the Russian and Belarusian delegations, respectively.

Fradkov said at the opening of the talks that the sides "would like to find a balanced and transparent resolution" of the problems linked to oil supplies to Belarus and Russian oil transit via Belarusian territory.

He said Russia's image as a reliable energy supplier has suffered due to the oil transit problems via Belarus.

Talks began Wednesday night at the Russian Economic Development and Trade Ministry following Minsk's decision to lift the Russian oil transit fee via Belarus.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070111/58925233.html