BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

16/05/2006

Belarus: Gas prices won't hit Russia ties

MINSK, Belarus, May 16 (UPI) -- Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said gas prices won't affect his country's ties with Russia.

"No gas problems will be able to affect Belarusian-Russian friendship," he said Monday, according to the Belarusian news agency Belapan Minsk. "However our relations may develop, you should know that you have the most reliable friends in Belarus."

The comments came during a meeting with a delegation of Russian's Northwestern Federal District.

Meanwhile, Russia's ITAR-TASS quoted Lukashenko as denying reports that Minks wanted to buy Russia's friendship "for oil and gas."

"We do not want this and are capable of cooperating with Russia in the areas outlined," he said, according to the news agency.

The comments come after last Friday's report in Russia's Kommersant newspaper that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an end to all Russian subsidies to Belarus. Prices could as much as triple if such a decision is taken.

Belarus now pays about $47 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Source:

http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=20060516-093013-7959r

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