Contents tagged with Lukashenko

  • Directors of all four Belarusian sugar mills arrested

    The directors of all four sugar mills operating in Belarus have stopped coming to work, TUT.BY reports, citing sources.

    The news outlet reports that on January 24, the director of the Gorodeya sugar refinary was removed from an aircraft on which he was about to fly to Munich. On January 27, the Director of the Slutsk Sugar Refinery “flew off on holiday”, the company claims. The head of the Skidzyel Sugar Combine “left for Minsk”, and the director of the Zhabinka Sugar Plant simply stopped …

  • Belarus to cut back Russian oil imports by half

    Belarus will be reducing its imports of Russian oil by a factor of 2-3, said President Alexander Lukashenko.

    Although there are no 100% alternatives to Russia’s supply at present, Belarusian refineries need to diversify their sources of crude oil, Lukashenko emphasized during a meeting on refinery growth on Tuesday.

    “We need to move towards buying 30-40% of our oil from Russia. 30% we should bring in from the Baltics and 30% through Ukraine – an already tested route,” the Belarusian state …

  • Lukashenko: Belarus to buy 30% of its oil through Ukraine

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Belarus plans to buy 30% of its oil through Ukraine. He made this statement during a meeting about improving the efficiency of oil product exports, BelTA reports.

    “There is currently no alternative for the full amount of Russian oil deliveries. But, as we have agreed, we need to diversify. We need to move towards buying 30-40% of our oil from Russia. 30% we should bring in from the Baltics and 30% through Ukraine – an already tested route. It …

  • Belarusian President Lukashenko displeased by Gazprom’s gas price hike

    At an awards ceremony yesterday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the situation surrounding the price of Russian gas, in which Russia’s Gazprom earns “three times as much” from supplying fuel to Belarus as to Germany, is abnormal.

    Commenting on the gas price negotiations, Lukashenko accused the Russian concern of earning three times as much in Belarus as in Germany. “Is this normal? It’s abnormal,” BelTA cites the president as saying.

    The parties have currently agreed to …

  • Lukashenko decides to pay for Russian gas using Belarusian rubles

    Belarus is aiming to stop paying for Russian gas in US dollars and start using Belarusian rubles in its contracts with Gazprom.

    This goal was included in the “Strategy for increasing faith in the national currency until 2035” which was compiled by the Belarusian government and National Bank and approved on January 3.

    The Belarusian ruble, introduced in 1994, has suffered from chronic devaluation and at present has “completely stopped fulfilling the function of money”. As much as 60% of the …

  • Lukashenko: NATO will not allow Russia to violate Belarus’s sovereignty

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that the West and NATO would respond accordingly if Russia tried to violate the sovereignty of Belarus.

    “Classic threats to sovereignty always exist, even for Russia. But I do not feel like the threat to Belarus’s sovereignty is growing. If this threat from Russia, as some people say, arises, and suddenly it tries to violate our sovereignty, you know what the reaction of not only the global community will be – they will get drawn into the …

  • As talks with Russia stall Lukashenko orders Belarus officials to start looking for alternative oil supplies

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed the heads of the Belarusian petrochemical industry to ensure the supply of oil from alternative sources within the next few days, reports the BelTA news agency. In the first place, Belarus officials consider delivering oil from the Baltic Sea port terminals by rail.

    Head of the Belneftekhim concern Andrei Rybakov said that after telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko instructed to complete negotiations …

  • Belarusian President Lukashenko: Ukraine provoked war in Donbas

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with the Echo of Moscow radio that Ukraine provoked the beginning of the conflict in the Donbas.

    "Ukraine framed itself to some extent. Ukraine started to strangle its Russian population through language issues and other things. They started to speak about issues that shouldn't have been raised in Ukraine! Anyway, I'm not justifying Russia now. I do not blame Ukraine. But anyway, Ukraine, provoked this clash, even though giving …

  • Belarusian President Lukashenko: several differences with Russia need to be resolved

    After talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the parties have conceptually agreed on the supply of energy, and specific prices will be determined soon, reports BelTA news agency.

    The Belarusian President noted that he does not rule out a new meeting with his Russian counterpart before the end of this year or early next year. "We have a couple of problems that we need to resolve, these are presidential issues," said …

  • Putin and Lukashenko reach agreement on oil and gas prices

    Belarus and Russia have found ways to compensate for Belarus’s expenses that were caused by a Russian tax maneuver in the oil sector, said Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko on Sunday after a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi.

    According to Semashko, the leaders have found ways to compensate part of Belarus’s losses arising from the tax maneuver – roughly $400 million per year, the amount that Minsk earned through favorable oil prices.

    Semashko …