Belarus is contemplating the purchase of two oil wells in Russia, a senior executive at the Belneftekhim state-controlled petrochemical concern said Tuesday.
The prime minister of Belarus said August 1 that exports of crude oil to Russia could drop because the country was redistributing it to other countries. But he said the country could lose markets if it did not cooperate with Russia.
Mikhail Osipenko said the fields have an estimated reserve of 15 mln metric tons.
"Russian companies would like to sell them at a very high price. We, of course, would like to buy them for less," he said. He did not disclose the location of the fields, citing confidentiality considerations.
The Belarusian State Petrochemical Concern (Belneftekhim) includes the country's largest enterprises in the chemical and petrochemical industry. //RIA Novosti
Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov and South African officials signed agreements on the establishment of a bilateral committee on trade and economic cooperation, on cooperation in the spheres of arts and culture, as well as on visa-free travel for the holders of diplomatic and official passports.
The accords were inked during the Belarusian official's ongoing visit to South Africa, the Belarusian foreign ministry's press office said.
Mr. Martynov met with his South African counterpart, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as well as Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mphalwa and the management of Johannesburg University on August 28.
The Belarusian and South African foreign ministers discussed the current state of and prospects for the expansion of bilateral political, economic, scientific and cultural cooperation, as well as steps to forge closer ties between the two countries within the United Nations, the Non-Alignment Movement and other international organizations.
While talking to reporters after the meeting, the Belarusian minister noted that his country, shunned by the United States and the European Union, wanted to create "a dense fabric" of ties with South Africa. "We are like minded on how the world should be run and how the United Nations system should be changed," South African news agencies quoted him as saying.
Mr. Martynov's meeting with the South African minister of trade and industry focused on ways of stepping up bilateral economic contacts.
The visit also yielded a memorandum of cooperation between Johannesburg University and Belarusian National Technical University.
The Belarusian minister is expected to head back to Belarus on August 30. //BelaPAN
A four-hour rock show was staged in Minsk on Friday evening on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Belarus' Declaration of State Sovereignty.
N.R.M., Neuro Dubel, Krama, Tav.Mauzer, Pamidor/OFF, Partyzanskaya Shkola and other rock bands who do not conceal their dislike for Aleksandr Lukashenko's government performed before an audience of some 2,000 people, mostly opposition youths.
Official organizers of the "Songs for Freedom" event in Nations' Friendship Park (near Bangalore Square) were opposition activists who had obtained the city government's permission.
Earlier, the Minsk authorities had not allowed the concert to be staged on July 27 (the anniversary of the Declaration's adoption).
The concert was ultimately staged on August 25. The declaration was given the status of a constitutional act on this date in 1991.
Emcee Aleksandr Pomidorov called on the crowd not to wave white-red-white flags and not to smoke and drink alcohol in order not to give authorities a pretext to stop the concert. People largely obeyed.
Vintsuk Vyachorka, chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, made a speech in an interval. Other prominent opposition leaders were absent. //BelaPAN
Vytautas Pociunas, vice consul of Lithuania's Consulate General in Grodno, was found dead in Brest on August 23.
The diplomat's body was found near Inturist Hotel at 8:30 a.m. by workers from a nearby construction site. He presumably fell to death out of a hotel window.
The Leninsky District Prosecutor's Office in Brest is investigating the circumstances of the accident but refuses to disclose any details.
Criminal proceedings are said to have not yet been instituted.
Ramunas Macius, a spokesman for the Lithuanian foreign ministry, confirmed the diplomat's death to BelaPAN. According to him, Mr. Pociunas had arrived at Brest on a working visit and was staying at Inturist Hotel.
Mr. Macius declined to comment on the accident. //BelaPAN
Austrian will offer an even stronger culinary service on its long-haul Business Class flights from 24 August onwards. Until now, Business Class passengers on intercontinental flights have ‘only’ received the attentions of an on-board chef on Austrian’s Boeing fleet, but this service is now to be provided on the company’s Airbus fleet as well. Six-course gourmet menus are to be created by Austrian and international chefs, and subsequently refined à la minute by a professional chef on board. Business Class passengers will now have the chance to enjoy this exclusive personal service from a top chef on all Austrian long-haul flights.
In addition to that, Business Class passengers on future long-haul flights will be indulged with the Original Viennese Coffee House Service. This means, for example, that they will enjoy a selection of eleven typically Austrian coffee variations with their dessert — ranging from the Großer Brauner and ever-popular Wiener Melange through to real specialities such as the Wiener Fiaker. Austrian Airlines is the only airline in the world to provide this innovative top service.
Welcoming these culinary innovations, Austrian Chief Executive Officer Alfred Ötsch commented: ‘Business Class passengers can now not only choose from a range of first-class Austrian and international culinary creations on all our long-haul flights, but also have those exquisite delicacies presented to them by a chef de cuisine. Our Original Viennese Coffee House Service and the personal care offered by leading chefs confirm that our travel product is of a truly first-class standard. Flying Austrian now provides our guests with a feeling of well-being in every sense, and is a unique travel experience. In future, I want to underline the charm and hospitality of Austrian culture, with unmistakeable accents for the individual comfort of our customers.
The Austrian Airlines Group fhas been flying to Belarus on a regular basis since 1992. Austrian flies Vienna-Minsk-Vienna twice a day at the moment.
The Belarusian economy ministry reported a rise in the country's trade with CIS countries in January through June.
According to the ministry's press office, Belarus' trade with Ukraine grew by 29 percent to $1,015 million in the period, with exports rising by 23.4 percent to $498.5 million and imports by 34.8 percent to $516.4 million.
The supplies of petroleum products to Ukraine jumped by 70 percent to $129.2 million. The ministry linked the rise in imports from Ukraine mainly to soaring electricity supplies.
Trade between Belarus and Moldova climbed by 21.7 percent to $80.6 million. Belarus' exports rose by 14.6 percent to $44 million and imports by 31.6 percent to $36.6 million.
Belarus' trade with Kazakhstan increased by 60.8 percent to $152.4 million.
In the first six months, Belarus raised exports to Georgia by 220 percent, to Kyrgyzstan by 150 percent, to Tajikistan by 80 percent, to Azerbaijan by 50 percent, to Uzbekistan by 20 percent and to Armenia by 12 percent. //BelaPAN
The pro-government Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) intends to push through a bill that would require all companies and organizations to conclude collective bargaining agreements.
The plan was under discussion at Thursday's meeting of the National Council on Labor and Social Matters which consists of representatives of trade unions, the government and employers.
FTUB chief Leonid Kozik said that many private companies are unwilling to sign such agreements with unions, whereas violations of labor regulations abound in the sector.
When inspecting private companies without any trade union grassroots organizations in 2005 and this year, the FTUB detected more than 4,000 irregularities, with most of them being "unimaginable in the government sector." According to Mr. Kozik, private employers often do not register employees on the companies' books, pay them cash in hand and do not allow them to take a leave.
A total of 17,747 collective bargaining agreements have been concluded in the country on the basis of general agreements between the Belarusian government and national associations of employers and trade unions.
Speaking about the implementation of the 2006-2008 general agreement, Mr. Kozik cited this year's economic statistics, saying that they were a major result of joint work.
The FTUB also intends to request the government to order companies without union grassroots cells to pay monthly contributions totaling three percent of the pay roll to trade unions. //BelaPAN
This was noted during a meeting between the Belarus Ambassador to Ukraine Valentyn Velychko and First Vice-Premier of Ukraine Mykola Azarov.
The parties highly assessed a dynamic development of trade-economic cooperation between the two countries and discussed prospects for strengthening bilateral economic and political relations. The parties spoke up for increasing cooperation ties in the sphere of precise electronics engineering, banking and insurance business, cultural and inter regional cooperation. //NRCU
Belarus is artificially delaying a settlement on the price of natural gas supplies from Russia, a Kremlin official said Tuesday.
After raising gas prices for several of its other ex-Soviet neighbors, Russian state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom said it would also pursue a European price formula for Belarus as of 2007, and offered to partially compensate for the price hikes if Belarusian gas pipeline company Beltransgaz were to sell the Russian energy giant its main gas routes.
"Belarus is under the illusion that something can change in Gazprom's position on the price of supplies to the country," the source said.
He said Russia had voiced its proposals on the price issue long ago but had received no response.
The price of gas supplies to Belarus has not changed since 2004, and currently stands at $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters. Russia is seeking a price in the region of $180-200.
In his response to parliament's inquiry into reasons for raising the price for Belarus, Andrei Dementyev, deputy minister of industry and energy, said that the current price of $46.68 only partially compensated for spending on the extraction, storage and transportation of gas to Belarus.
"Under these conditions, keeping the current gas price means not only directly subsidizing supplies to Belarus, but also the absence of a source of investment into the development of the gas industry, and a reduction in budget revenues," he said. //RIA Novosti
The Belarusian transport ministry has denied reports about a rise in transit fees collected from foreign-registered vehicles that have allegedly prompted many transport companies to reroute their Russian-bound trucks from Belarus to Latvia.
Russia's Federal Customs Service reported on Tuesday that trucks had formed kilometers-long lines at Russia's Latvian border, explaining that many companies had diverted traffic to Latvia after Minsk had raised transit fees and introduced stiffer control rules.
When reached by BelaPAN, representatives of the transport ministry flatly denied the reports, saying that the country's transit fees had remained at the same level for several years. The rate off fees collected from trucks at Belarus' only toll highway, the M1/E30 Brest-Minsk-Russian border road, has not changed either, according to a source with the ministry's road construction and maintenance department (Belavtodor).
30 August 2006