BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/01/2007

Belarus mulls oil monopoly

MINSK, Belarus, Jan. 25 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said he wants to set up a state oil monopoly to deal with crude purchases and the sale of petroleum products.

Belarus should have such a company; the necessary documents should be drawn up shortly, he was quoted as saying during a government conference in Navapolatsk, Belarus, Tuesday. The comments were reported Wednesday by the Belapan news agency.

He said he wants the company to be modeled after the Belarusian Potash Co.

The news agency also quoted Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski as saying an agreement had been reached in Moscow for the supply of 21.5 million tons of oil in 2007.

Sidorski was quoted as saying that the direct sale of petroleum products would allow the country to keep the petroleum sector profitable.

Source:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/23900.html