BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

16/02/2006

Belarus, Ukraine to work on energy

MINSK, Belarus, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Ukraine and Belarus are planning to develop a joint energy strategy, officials said Thursday.

"Taking into account the energy dependence of our states, we decided to work out a joint strategy," Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Stanislav Stashevskyy said.

The comments came after a meeting of the Belarusian-Ukrainian commission for trade and economic cooperation.

Ukrainian energy supplies to Belarus would increase along with the capacity of power transmission lines between the two countries, he said.

Much of Europe relies on Russia for its energy needs but after the pricing dispute between Russia's state-run gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine earlier this year, several countries have spoken of the need to ensure energy security and worked to diversify sources.

Source:

http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=20060216-021152-8703r