BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/07/2007

Belarus reshuffles energy chiefs

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko replaced a number of top energy officials this week, including chiefs of three state energy businesses central to the economy, amid rising Russian energy prices.

Lukashenko said those energy officials he replaced are to blame for failing to ameliorate the serious effects of the sharp increase in Russian natural gas prices since January.

Officials from Belarus and Russia held talks in Moscow to discuss the ongoing gas crisis after Belarus did not pay $500 million in repayment of gas debts to Gazprom, the Financial Times reported.

The latest dismissals came days after Lukashenko replaced the head of the KGB secret police with the boss of his own security service, although analysts said the purges might be unconnected, the paper reported.

Russia more than doubled the price Belarus pays for gas since January, since it hopes to bring charges for former Soviet republics closer to market rates. Russia also imposed an export duty on crude oil exports to Belarus.

Source:

http://www.upi.com/Energy/Analysis/2007/07/25/upi_energy_watch/4416/