BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/12/2006

Belarus set to impose Russia media blackout - source

MOSCOW, December 29 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus intends to impose a blockade on all Russian media beginning January 1, 2007, a source in Minsk said Friday.

Russia and Belarus failed to reach an agreement on a new gas price for Minsk Thursday.

Russia and Belarus are currently involved in complex negotiations over the 2007 gas price for Minsk, which has been paying a discounted rate until now. The dispute is reminiscent of a gas spat with Ukraine early this year when Russia briefly suspended gas supplies, affecting consumers in Europe.

In the ongoing dispute between the ex-Soviet neighbors, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Wednesday the state-controlled Russian natural gas monopoly will cut off supplies to Belarus January 1, 2007 if no new agreement is signed by that time.

A Russian government source said following Thursday's talks that Moscow does not intend to change the Gazprom-proposed contract terms on gas supply to Belarus.

Gazprom has proposed that Belarus pay $75 per 1,000 cubic meters in cash, plus $30 in shares of Beltransgaz, the Belarusian state-owned gas transport network.

Belarus, which is building a Union State with Russia, currently pays a discounted rate of $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters and charges Russia a transit rate of $0.75 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Another post-Soviet state, Azerbaijan, decided Thursday to take the ORT and Rossiya national TV channels off the air, purportedly to boost the development of national television.

Azerbaijan's relations with Russia have deteriorated since the South Caucasus country refused December 26 to buy natural gas from Russia at $235 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20061229/58077962.html