BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/01/2007

Aleksander Lukashenko: "We carry out intensive negotiations with Azerbaijan"

"We carry out intensive negotiations with oil-producing countries in order to cooperate with them. We are ready to establish joint ventures with them," Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko stated in the interview to German publication "Die Welt."

He said that these countries will be interested in refining oil in Belarus and purchase oil in European markets.

"Then we'll see the Russian reaction to this. We do not establish joint ventures with Russia. So, Russia will lose its market. Our dependence on Russia will reduce with the help of super modern refineries in Central Europe," he noted.

President Lukashenko stressed out that they are seeking for alternatives.

"We must find various import sources of hydrocarbon resources. Belarus will become a sovereign and independent country if we manage it," he said, APA reports.

Source:

http://www.today.az/news/business/35556.html