The Belarusian State Petrochemical Industry Concern (Belneftekhim) has suspended all 2007 contracts with Russian oil companies, saying that the economy will suffer huge losses if Belarusian companies continue buying oil from Russia.
The move is linked to Russia's decision to impose an export duty of $180.1 per ton on crude oil delivered to Belarus.
Aleksandr Borovsky, head of the state conglomerate, described Moscow's decision as "inadequate." "The Russian government's decision raises concerns both from Belneftekhim and Russian oil companies," official information sources quoted him as saying in Minsk on Saturday.
The official stressed that the duty imposition did not serve the interests of Russian oil producers, which he said maintain active contacts with Belarusian enterprises.
Mr. Borovsky acknowledged that Belarus' two oil refineries would have to scale down their production following the suspension of the supplies. "This step on the part of Russia is simply beyond assessment, considering the fact that we are building a Union State," he noted.
The Belneftekhim chief predicted that Moscow's decision would hurt contacts between Belarusian petrochemical companies and Russian enterprises. In particular, he said, Gazprom-controlled Sibur supplies Novopolotsk-based Polimir with gas and petrochemical materials and buys chemical products from the Belarusian company.
"If Russia had warned us at least six months before, we would have been prepared for the step," Mr. Borovsky noted. "Now the heads of the Russian companies Surgutneft, Lukoil, Rusneft are making a helpless gesture, wondering how we should work in the future. What, did they decide to bring their economy to a standstill as well?" //BelaPAN
Former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin has urged Belarusian opposition forces to come up with a common strategy on relations with Russia.
The leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Hramada," who is currently serving a five-and-a-half-year prison term, has informed his lawyer Igor Rynkevich about his proposals for the opposition's contacts with the Kremlin.
In particular, Dr. Kozulin suggests forming a delegation of opposition leaders and experts that would hold economic talks with Moscow, expressing certainty that the opposition could offer Russia "a model of mutually beneficial, neighborly relations."
"Dr. Kozulin is very surprised that the opposition is not taking an active part in negotiations with Russia under present-day difficult conditions. They should tell Russia that all agreements to be signed by Belarus and Russia will be reviewed for establishing whether they are consistent with Belarus' national interests," Mr. Rynkevich said. "Mr. Lukashenko became an illegitimate president on September 21, and all accords signed by the Belarusian authorities - be it the Union State, the Constitutional Act or Beltransgaz — have no legal force."
Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the United Civic Party, appeared to be lukewarm to the proposal, calling for agreeing on "a consolidated stance" first. "If we go to Moscow and suggest five to eight scenarios of cooperation from each party, this will be not serious. Talks should be started when the sides have something to offer each other," he noted.
According to Mr. Lebedko, Belarusian opposition forces have invited the Russian ambassador to Belarus to a meeting. "If such a meeting does take place in the new year, this will be a clear signal that Russia is ready for a dialog. And then we will be able to express out stance on relations between the two countries," the politician said. //BelaPAN
The Belarusian foreign ministry condemned the December 30 execution of Saddam Hussein as a hasty lynching.
The execution of the former Iraqi president "risks becoming a starting point for increasing the surge of violence in Iraq and having repercussions in neighboring states in the region," Andrei Popov, spokesman for the ministry, said on Saturday.
"The hasty lynching of Saddam Hussein is what is called victor's justice," Mr. Popov said. "The moral aspect of all this is evident. In addition, the legal faultlessness of the trial of the former president of Iraq aroused serious doubts at the very beginning and continue arousing them in many states of the world, including, as far as we understand, among the countries of the European Union. It is difficult to understand the logic of the initiators of the execution of the former Iraqi leader."
"The United States has exploded yet another bomb under the shaky balance in the Middle East and one can expect various kinds of social and political earthquakes, which will hurt the United States itself very badly," Nikolai Cherginets, a senior member of the Belarusian National Assembly's Council of the Republic, commented in an interview with BelaPAN.
The chairman of the upper chamber's Committee on International Affairs and National Security expressed his bewilderment at the stance of European states. "In words, many of them said that they opposed the execution," he said. "But they should point out that they do not agree to the policy that the USA has been pursuing in the last decade, driving the world into such deadlocks that can certainly lead to global wars. It's high time to stop the United States, and this should be done by, above all, the countries that are highly close to the USA. They should have already expressed their opinion to the USA."
The execution of Saddam Hussein will bring no good to Iraq, Sergei Gaidukevich, leader of Belarus' Liberal Democratic Party and a member of the House of Representatives, told BelaPAN.
"In this regard, I agree with European Union colleagues," said Mr. Gaidukevich, who has recently been appointed as the Belarusian foreign minister's special representative for relations with European parliamentary organizations. "This [hanging] is a barbarous method of execution and therefore doubts emerge regarding democracy in Iraq and the stance of the USA."
According to Mr. Gaidukevich, the execution may increase tension in Iraq. "They created a big precedent by this execution. They created a symbol of struggle for all, including Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. This is a multinational country. I know this proud nation and don't doubt that they will put this symbol on the banner of struggle."
In 1982 and 1983, Mr. Gaidukevich served as a Soviet military expert in Iraq. In 1998, he was the only European politician invited to Saddam Hussein's birthday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his New Year greetings to Aleksandr Lukashenko.
In his message, Mr. Putin expresses confidence that the real advancement of integration processes will help achieve progress in the social and economic sphere and democratic development, and will contribute to the improvement of people's living standards in the two countries, the Russian president's press office said. //BelaPAN
Doctors at the Vitba 3 correctional institution near Vitebsk insist on Aleksandr Kozulin's hospitalization, the imprisoned politician's laywer, Igor Rynkevich, told BelaPAN.
According to the lawyer, the doctors have recommended to Dr. Kozulin that he should have a medical examination to check the condition of his viscera and tissues because the prisoner has health problems, including water retention and a slow weight gain following his hunger strike.
Despite these problems, Mr. Rynkevich said, Dr. Kozulin still looks cheerful and confident.
The lawyer said that Dr. Kozulin receives New Year greetings from all corners of Belarus.
"He is especially happy with the fact that people are not afraid, send greetings and sign their names," Mr. Rynkevich said.
According to him, Dr. Kozulin intended to hand his wife Irina a universal message of New Year greetings so that she would send it out to people who wrote to him, but the prison administration banned him from doing so because the message contained words about Belarus' "awakening."
Dr. Kozulin said that he would have to write each letter of greetings by himself, which would take much time and some letter would be delivered after the New Year's Day.
The politician welcomed the United Pro-democratic Forces' decision to decide on their candidates' withdrawal from the local soviets race before January 4.
"He asked the pro-democratic forces to stress that it is useless to vote in elections in Belarus until a central election commission is formed, opposition parties are represented in election commissions, and Belarus has independent broadcasting media," said Mr. Rynkevich.
"Aleksandr Kozulin wished his best to all Belarusians on the occasion of the New Year and expressed confidence that the coming year would be a year of change," the lawyer said.
In the course of the consistent restructuring of the Austrian Airlines Group, its brand portfolio — and particularly the Lauda Air charter and holiday flight brand — has been subjected to a detailed evaluation.
The results of an investigation and survey pointed in the direction of an umbrella brand strategy based on Austrian, while dialogues with renowned tour operators emphasised the sales potential of the Lauda Air brand. As a result, the Lauda Air brand is now to be brought closer to the Austrian umbrella brand. The charter and holiday flight sector will in future be using the slogan "Lauda Air — the AUSTRIAN way to holidays". Potential synergies such as harmonisation of Lauda's advertising presence with Austrian and unified design of consumer and other on-board items will be more strongly emphasised in future than has been the case in the past.
Customer surveys carried out recently by polling institute IMAS indicated that the Austrian brand has an extremely high level of recognition compared to numerous competitor carriers, as well as achieving strong preference in the charter and holiday flight market segment. Additional expert interviews with a wide range of Austrian tour operators, which were carried out subsequently by the market research institute Karmasin, confirmed that the Lauda Air brand continues to enjoy a very positive reputation.
Austrian Chief Executive Officer Alfred Ötsch made the following statement on the decision to bring the brands closer together: "When we evaluated a multi-brand versus an umbrella brand strategy, we compared the investment requirement in brand experiences to the reduction in complexity, and the market coverage provided by several different brands to the strength of a single, umbrella brand. The decision to bring the Lauda Air brand closer to Austrian comes as a logical consequence, something confirmed by the results of our studies. Since we value feedback from our clients in the tour operator segment highly, we decided to continue using the brand Lauda Air for the charter and holiday flight business, while extracting the maximum synergies. Our tried-and-tested holiday flight team, led by Thomas Suritsch, will also continue to actively engage in the charter and holiday flight business in future and present itself as a reliable partner".
Thomas Suritsch, Managing Director of Lauda Air said the following about the brand being brought closer to Austrian: "Lauda Air is a multiple award-winning, well-established brand in charter and holiday flights. The fact that the brands within the Group are being brought closer together is positive, and the move will provide continuity and give us the strength to continue growing. Due to the independence of the segment, our cooperation with tour operators can be covered perfectly, while Group synergies are simultaneously exploited to the full".
The Austrian Airlines Group has been flying to Belarus on a regular basis since 1992. Austrian flies Vienna-Minsk-Vienna twice a day at the moment.
Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said that the price of Russian crude oil for Belarusian refineries will exceed $585 per ton after Moscow introduces export duties on the product supplied to Belarus on January 1, 2007.
While commenting on the Kremlin's move to impose a duty of $180.1 per ton of crude oil, the Belarusian premier condemned it as "pressure on our country" and "an attempt to bring our oil refineries to a halt." "I can't call it any other way," the government's press office quoted him as saying.
The official noted that the move was tantamount to Russia's exit from a customs union with Belarus. "This has not been announced but this is a fact," he stressed
According to Mr. Semashko, Minsk is ready to compromise and share revenues from export duties on petroleum products with Russia. //BelaPAN
Minsk will raise transit rates for Russian gas if Gazprom moves ahead with its plans to increase the price of gas supplied to Belarusian consumers on January 1, 2007, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko warned.
If the price is set at $75 or $110 for 1,000 cubic meters, the Russian company will be charged $1.3 and $1.65, respectively, in transit fee per 1,000 cubic meters/100 kilometers for gas pipelined via Beltransgaz's network, the Belarusian official told reporters on December 26.
According to the deputy prime minister, a total of 44 billion cubic meters of gas is annually pipelined through Belarus' territory.
When asked to predict what would happen if Russia cut off gas supplies to the country on January 1, Mr. Semashko said that "gas can be shut off, but there would be enough gas for Lithuania and Poland only for 12 to 13 days." "Whatever happens, Belarus will have gas. We and Gazprom are interdependent," the official noted.
"Of course, they can carry out such experiments on Belarus but this won't give Gazprom any additional advantages," he went on to say.
Gazprom currently pays Belarus $0.75 per 1,000 cubic meters/100 kilometers in transit fee, a rate which is even lower than fees charged in Russia, official information sources said. Ukraine charges Gazprom $1.6 per 1,000 cubic meters/100 kilometers, Poland, $2.5 and other countries, $3.5.
Gazprom annually saves $882 million in transit fees by pipelining gas to Western customers through Belarus, Mr. Semashko said. The amount can grow to $1.2 billion if the Russian giant goes ahead with its plans to raise the amount of gas transited via Belarus to 61 billion cubic meters, he added. "Although the Russian company is trying to convince everyone that it does not need this pipeline that much," the official noted. //BelaPAN
Russian natural gas giant Gazprom has removed all its objections to a deal on next year's supplies to Belarus, Russian media outlets quoted Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller as saying following a round of talks with the Belarusian first deputy prime minister on Tuesday.
Mr. Miller said that Gazprom had agreed to Belarus' valuation of its gas distribution network Beltransgaz at $5 billion despite being convinced that the assets are worth $3.3 billion at most.
He said that Belarus could pay for gas supplies partly with the 50-percent stake in Beltransgaz, noting that such "favorable conditions" had never been created for any other CIS country.
On Monday, Gazprom warned that it would cut off gas supplies to Belarus unless it accepted a four-fold increase in the price by January 1. //BelaPAN
Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation on the evening of December 23, according to the press office of the Russian president.
The leaders of Belarus and Russia reportedly continued the discussion of issues that had been under discussion during a face-to-face meeting and a session of the Supreme State Council of the Belarusian-Russian Union State held in Moscow not long before.
The press office notes that the telephone conversation was initiated by Mr. Lukashenko.
The press office of the Belarusian leader reported nothing on the conversation.
Following his face-to-face meeting with the Russian president in Moscow on December 15, Mr. Lukashenko said that problems in Belarusian-Russian integration, including those concerning the adoption of the Union State's Constitutional Act and the introduction of a common currency in the Union State, might soon be solved.
"We had planned to factor out the Constitutional Act, the single currency and a number of other matters that are much talked and written about," he said. "But as the result of our lengthy and difficult talks [with Putin], we seem to have found the clue that we can grasp. I guess we'll soon manage to remove very many problems that were so hard for us. That's why today's talks lasted so long [almost three hours]." //BelaPAN
31 December 2006