Contents tagged with Belarus

  • Polish President disappointed with Lukashenko’s handling of the protests

    President of Poland Andrzej Duda is disappointed with the reaction of Belarusian authorities toward participants of a protest rally held on Freedom Day, March 25th.

    He said this at a meeting with the presidents of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as reported by Onet, with reference to Polish Press Agency.

    “I watched with great disappointment how the Belarusian authorities dealt with the protesters,” Duda said.

    He also said that he is concerned about the detention of Polish citizens in …

  • Lukashenko accuses the US and Germany of financing militants in Belarus

    The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said that the armed militants who were allegedly preparing attacks in the country were funded by the USA and Germany, as he stated on Friday, March 24th, during a visit to the Grodno region, BelTA news agency reports.

    "They are offended because they heard my statement made in Mogilev about Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland. But what if it is really like that?! The Americans and Germans funded this through the Poles and Lithuanians. Most of the money …

  • Belarus says dozens of Ukraine-trained militants were arrested, Kyiv demands proof

    On March 21, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that “several dozen militants” were arrested. He claims that they were trained in Ukraine. “We have already arrested several dozen, who have trained in camps with weapons. Incidentally, one of the camps was in the Babruysk and Asipovichy region. The rest of the camps were in Ukraine, in my opinion, in Lithuania or in Poland – I won’t make any claims, but somewhere there. Money came through Poland and Lithuania to us. At this hour we …

  • Lukashenko said NATO observers will be allowed to attend joint Russian-Belarusian exercises

    The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko said that the joint Belarusian-Russian exercise "Zapad-2017" will have purely defensive objectives so the representatives of NATO should be allowed to observe them. BelTA reports that he made the statement during consideration of the report on organizing joint strategic exercises between the Armed Forces of Belarus and Russia.

    "I demand cooperation from all of you so that this event on our country’s territory remains transparent. All activities …

  • Lukashenko demands that government officials find work for their 'relatives and lovers'

    President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko demanded that all government officials find employment for all of their non-working relatives, spouses and lovers. He said this at the meeting on topical issues of the country's development, BelTA news agency reports.

    "I want to be heard by those who are sitting here now and by others in the media later today. For now, I am addressing government officials and other important people in the country: please, find employment for your wives, husbands, …

  • Thousands in Belarus protest against the tax on parasitism

    More than a thousand of people protesting against the “tax on parasitism” walked along the central streets of Belarusian city of Brest and blocked traffic flow on the city’s main motorway.

    The protesters chanted “Enough!”, “Lukashenko, go away!”, “We don’t want to pay thieves, parasites and cops”. “No salary – there’s a tax, the deputy’s purse. The real sponger is the person who invented the decree.”

    A number of the participants in the unsanctioned action – about 150 people – agreed to go …

  • Russia increases the price of gas for Belarus

    The price of Russian gas for Belarus has risen by 6.81 percent from January 1, 2017, from 132 dollars to 141.1 dollars per thousand cubic meters. This was stated in a letter dated January 25, addressed by the Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom, Valery Golubev to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, as reported by RBC news agency.

    The authenticity of the letter was confirmed to RBC by officials in the Energy Ministry in Moscow and Minsk. In the letter, Golubev describes …

  • Russian Deputy PM: Belarus owes Russia $600 million for gas

    The debt accrued by Belarusian companies for gas delivered by Russia has reached almost $600 million, according to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

    "We believe that this money should be paid in full," Dvorkovich stressed in a lobby interview with RBC during the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi.

    According to the Deputy Prime Minister, negotiations with the Belarusian side are difficult. "We have a different understanding both of the letter and the spirit of the existing agreement, a …

  • Thousands protest in Belarus against the 'tax on parasitism'

    Thousands of people in a number of Belarusian cities protested on Sunday the 26th of February against the “tax on parasitism”, introduced by presidential decree “to prevent social dependency”. According to BelaPAN’s report, the protest took place in Vitebsk, Babruysk, Baranavichi and Brest.

    In the first two cities, a total of around 2000 people came out onto the streets. Roughly 300 people attended the protest in Baranavichi. Anatoly Lebedko, chairman of the United Civil Party of the …

  • Belarus finds solution to the gas conflict with Russia

    Belarusian authorities have come to a solution on the gas conflict with Russia, the country's Minister of Energy Vladimir Potupchik reported.

    According to him, now everything depends on the agreement of these terms at a “high level” and through “political decisions,” reports news agency BELTA.

    “Everything that was done in this part was released to the public by Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich,” said Potupchik.He also spoke …