BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

12/11/2008

Latvian and Belarusian premiers discuss energy and transit cooperation

RIGA, November 12 (Itar-Tass) -- The Latvian and Belarusian prime ministers, Ivars Godmanis and Sergei Sidorsky, met on Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy and transit, as well as to sign a package of inter-departmental agreements.

"We are interested in direct contacts in the energy sector," Godmanis said at a news conference.

"We discussed energy efficiency and various plans for further cooperation, mainly those related to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus," he said.

In particular, Godmanis is confident that a connection to other power grids and the drawing of resources from other countries should guarantee energy security.

During the meeting, the two prime ministers discussed bilateral cooperation in the fields of transport, transit and logistics in the context of interaction with China, Kazakhstan and other countries, Godmanis said.

The Latvian and Belarusian premiers also discussed the promotion of trans-border interaction using the European Union's funds.

"Being a member-country of the European Union and addressing issues of broader economic relations with Belarus, Latvia expressed readiness to get actively involved in assisting and supporting trans-border projects, including border infrastructure, as well as in other projects, which envision the drawing of resources within the format of the European good-neighbourliness policy," Godmanis said.

Sidorsky, in turn, stressed that Belarusian-Latvian trade had grown significantly and it was important to keep those indices amid the global financial crunch.

"The issues, which were in the focus of Wednesday's talks, were connected with the enhancement of potential in the spheres of economy, trade, energy and transit," the Belarusian prime minister said.

In his words, Belarus is interested in the Latvian seaports of Riga and Ventspils, which can handle 15 million tonnes of cargoes daily.

Belarus would like to develop export relations and believes it important that Latvia should meet it halfway by offering competitive conditions, Sidorsky said.

Besides, the Latvian and Belarusian prime ministers signed a package of three inter-departmental cooperation agreements: on statistics, on healthcare and medical sciences, and on higher energy efficiency.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13266854&PageNum=0

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