Contents tagged with Belarus

  • Lukashenko: building strong relations with U.S. is one of Belarus' main goals

    Building a strong and constructive relationship with the United States is one of Belarus' main goals, wrote the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in his greeting to his American counterpart on the Day of Independence of the United States.

    "Building a strong, constructive relationship with the United States based on common values and priorities is one of the main goals of the Belarusian foreign policy," reads the greeting message addressed to Donald Trump.

    Lukashenko noted that the …

  • Belarus reveals unexpected details of integration plan with Russia

    In 2019, Russia proposed to Minsk to transfer 95% of the power to the supranational level as part of the integration between the two countries, said the Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko.

    He called such a proposal “a complete surrender”, BelTA reports. According to the diplomat, the document assumed "giving up everything," leaving Minsk a few points - for example, the right to call law enforcement agencies “militsiya”, not police.

    Semashko noted that equality is important in …

  • Lukashenko: $640 million laundered through Gazprom Bank in Belarus

    The Russian authorities understand the reasons for the situation with the Belgazprombank case and the arrest of its former head Viktor Babariko, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with the government in the Minsk region.

    "On June 24 (during my visit to Moscow), I noticed that when we ctracked down on this gas industry bank, they understood everything," said Lukashenko, whose speech was broadcast by the Belarus-1 TV channel.

    According to Lukashenko, the Belarusian …

  • Belarusian President Lukashenko accuses ‘Russian puppeteers’ of election meddling

    In the run-up to the presidential elections, the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko again came down with criticism on his rivals. The politician believes that Russia and Poland might be helping a number of candidates, BelTA reports.

    "The most modern fake propaganda technologies are being used, there is interference from abroad in our elections, internal affairs," the President said, noting that the oppositionists who put forward demands for fair elections are dishonest.

    "Are they …

  • Lukashenko orders Belarusian companies to close accounts in Russian banks

    The Belarusian authorities ordered state-owned companies to stop using bank accounts and withdraw money from all Russian banks except state-owned ones, reported Belarusian news outlets Naviny.by and TUT.by, citing sources in financial industry.

    The order of the Belarusian government concerns the banks with Russian capital, one of the bankers said. This includes the subsidiaries of Sberbank and VEB (BPS-Sberbank and BelVEB), which have traditionally been actively working with Belarusian state- …

  • Belarus accuses Russian high-ranking officials of fraud

    Gazprom's top managers, as well as possibly high-ranking representatives of the Russian establishment, are involved in illegal activities in Belgazprombank, stated the head of the Committee of State Control (KGC) of Belarus Ivan Tertel.

    On June 14, several top managers of the bank, which is 99.6% owned by Gazprom and Gazprombank, were detained on charges of tax evasion, credit fraud and creating a criminal group to withdraw funds abroad.

    On Thursday, June 18, the Belarusian security forces …

  • Lukashenko sends 16 top managers of Gazprom bank to prison

    President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko continues to raise stakes in the conflict with Moscow.

    After inconclusive negotiations on gas prices held last week, the Committee of State Control (KGC) of Belarus carried out searches at the head office of Belgazprombank, the former head of which, Viktor Babariko, decided to run for president in the upcoming August 9 elections.

    15 top managers of the bank, which is 99.6% owned by the Russian gas giant Gazprom and Gazprombank, are suspected of …

  • Gas talks between Russia and Belarus produce no results

    Energy Ministers of Belarus and Russia, Viktor Karankevich and Alexander Novak, resumed attempts to come to an agreement on gas prices, with Minsk demanding a considerable discount. Negotiations held on June 9 over vodeo conference, which involved the deputy chief of staff of Gazprom Alexander Meshkov, Ambassador to Minsk Vladimir Semashko, ended without any results.

    The press service of the Russian Ministry of Energy did not report any concrete results of the conversation, while Minsk …

  • Lukashenko upset that Germany gets Russian gas cheaper than Belarus

    President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in a conversation with prime minister Syarhey Rumas said that it is necessary to reduce the price of natural gas supplied from Russia, repots the news agency BelTA.

    Lukashenko noted that Russia sells gas to Germany much cheaper than Belarus.

    "Yesterday I received information that at this difficult time Russia sells natural gas in Europe for up to $70: $65-68, but not for $127, as for Belarus. What are the circumstances and the situation here, what can …

  • Belarus begins war with Russia in global fertilizers market

    Saudi oil dumping tactics seem to be a contagious example for Belarus, which competes with Russia in the supply of potash fertilizers.

    The Belarusian potash company - the trading subsidiary of Belaruskali - has sharply reduced prices for consumers in China.

    On April 30, the company announced that it had entered into a contract with a consortium of Chinese buyers (Sinochem, CNAMPGC, CNOOC) at a price of $220 per ton. Compared to the previous contract, Belarusian fertilizers fell by $70 per ton, …