BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

18/10/2007

No decisions on fuel prices expected during Zubkov's visit to Minsk

MOSCOW, October 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russia has no plans to hold talks with Belarus over fuel prices for the year 2008, as these prices have already been fixed by the accords between the two countries, a government source told Itar-Tass.

"No new decisions on prices of gas or oil will be made during Russian prime Minister Viktor Zubkov's visit to Minsk on Friday, October 19. These issues can only be touched upon at the negotiations between the prime ministers of the two countries," the source said.

"No new talks over fuel prices are forthcoming, because we already have the relevant price-fixing agreements on oil and gas," the official said.

The contract spells out the formula to calculate fuel prices. The new parameters of the prices are calculated automatically. "The oil and gas accords are inviolable; and Russia is ready to confirm their fulfillment," he underlined.

According to the official, "there should be no surprises at the upcoming New Year night" /Russia and Belarus were locked in talks over the gas price throughout the previous New Year/.

"Belarus keeps raising the issue of the necessity to secure equal conditions for the economies of the two countries, and insists on fixing equal prices of fuels. But fuels belong to competitive advantages of a given country, not to the opportunities of equal conditions," he added.

"Each country has its own competitive advantages. In Russia's case, these are fuels. Belarus has the industrial basis inherited from the Soviet Union. It's Belarus's competitive advantage, and nobody demands that it share it with someone," the source said.

Zubkov's visit to Belarus will be his first trip abroad in the capacity of Russian prime minister.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11983508&PageNum=0