Alexander Lukashenko has chosen the right time to threat with breaking up with Russia.
Photo: Pavel Smertin
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Moving to Non-Alignment
// Lukashenko has ditched Russia
The united state of Russia and Belarus will not be created within the next three yeas – as long as Vladimir Putin is in office in Russia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday. Lukashenko has declined to sell 50 percent in Beltransgaz to Gazprom for $300 million and threatened to walk out of the treaty on the united state in case Moscow hikes gas prices for Belarus. Moscow’s closest ally has attacked it just when the Kremlin is on the brink of war with Georgia.
Alexander Lukashenko invited Russian journalists yesterday to tell them everything he thinks about Moscow, Russia’s current authorities and the outlook of the united state. He started by saying that he does not hope to come to an agreement about anything with the current Russian leadership. “The hot time is coming in the Russian Federation – time of parliament and then president election. There will be a break in taking serious and even radical decisions in the bilateral relations within the next three years,” he said. Alexander Lukashenko then tried to prove that the Kremlin is to blame for the fact that the united state has not been created yet.
Belarus’ president told that the Russian president’s administration had turned down his draft Constitutional Act since it transferred too many powers to bodies of the united state. Moscow thought that the Belarusian leader had thus tried to secure his key role in the structure of the would-be state. The Kremlin came up with its amendments which Lukashenko thought were turning the united state into a kind of the European Union whereas he would like to see something resembling the Soviet Union. “You must have already heard that the president of Russia wants to build a European Union. What for? We were living in one country just yesterday. The European Union was not,” the Belarusian leader noted.
Alexander Lukashenko attributed this behavior of Russian authorities to a striving to annex Belarus to Russia. “I don’t want to be the first and the last president of Belarus,” Mr. Lukashenko said. “Once Belarus has entered Russia, we will have things here far worse than in Chechnya. People from Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Baltic countries will come down here. They are already ready to come here with arms. They will even get money for this.”
Complaining about the enmity of Russian authorities, Alexander Lukashenko made an announcement that Moscow has recently stopped executing package agreements of 2002. “You have just walked out of the agreement on equal conditions on pricing. What kind of united state are you talking about if you break an agreement with your main ally?!” the Belarusian president was raging. This information was considered confidential and was available only in diplomatic circles. Russia’s Foreign Ministry sent a note to Minsk late August informing that it stops executing agreements on supplying gas to Belarus at Russian domestic prices after Minks had declined to sell 50 percent in Beltransgaz to Gazprom. A source at the Russian Foreign Ministry explained then that there was no need to denounce the agreement on the principles of pricing as it was expiring in April 2007. Therefore Gazprom will have no more formal grounds to keep gas prices low for Belarus.
Belarus now pays $46.68 for 1,000 cu. meters of Russian gas but Gazprom sent a contract for 2007 to the Belarusian government this April with the bottom gas price of $200. A source of Kommersant at Gazprom said that there was no approaching of positions on gas prices and value of Beltransgaz.
Alexander Lukashenko cited some fresh statistics yesterday. He said Gazprom is wiling to pay only $300 million for the half of Beltransgaz while it was offering $700 million two years ago. “If we put Beltransgaz up for sale, and Americans offer $2 billion, but not $300 million as Gazprom is now offering, what are you going to do then?” the president asked the Russian journalists. “Do you want to sell gas at market prices? Buy things at market prices, then. I am not saying ‘Pay $2.5 billion tomorrow.’ You can pay by gas. I don’t mind.”
Reaching the sorest point with him – a hike in gas prices – Alexander Lukashenko did not talk about temporary differences. He spoke about a breakup. “Raising gas prices to these highs clearly means a breakup of relations.” After counting that Belarus will have to pay one billion more to Russia if the prices are raised, Mr. Lukashenko exclaimed: “I must ask you: what do you want from Belarus? You don’t anything! You don’t want this union. Your elite don’t want it. We won’t die because of this billion, but you will lose an ally and just disgrace yourselves!”
Alexander Lukashenko has chosen the right time to deal a blow on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The Russian president is now trying to reach an agreement with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac on guarantees for Russian gas supplies in exchange for amending the energy charter of the EU. Alexander Lukashenko’s words that Russia does not meet its obligations even with its closest ally may cause substantial damage to Moscow’s reputation and make talks between Moscow and the European Union more difficult.
Russia can hardly benefit from a row with Belarus in the view of a growing escalating conflict with Tbilisi. Moscow appeals to the world community, asking the UN to interfere in the trial of Russian officers. Georgia also makes attempts to get the West by its side and accuses Russia of blackmail. Now Belarus has joined the choir of those lambasting the Kremlin. Alexander Lukashenko’s rallying with Russia’s enemies obviously makes their arguments sound more substantial in front of the world community.
Mikhail Zygar and Nataliya Grib
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 30, 2006
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