Contents tagged with Belarus

  • 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, …

  • Belarus to build new pipeline to deliver oil from Ukraine and Baltics

    President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has signed an order to build an oil pipeline that will supply oil from Ukrainian and Baltic ports, reported by the press service of the President of Belarus.

    "In order to diversify oil supplies to Belarus in 2020-2023, an investment project to build the Gomel-Horki main oil pipeline will be built," the statement said.

    The company responsible for the design and construction of the oil pipeline will be Joint Stock Company Gomeltransneft Druzhba. The …

  • Belarus buys first shipment of oil from Saudi Arabia

    Belarus has bought the first shipment of 80,000 tons of oil from the Saudi state oil company Saudi Aramco, announced the spokesman of Belneftekhim concern Alexander Tishchenko.

    According to him, the oil tanker is expected to arrive on May 11 in the port of Klaipeda. He did not rule out new purchases from Saudi Aramco in the future. According to Tishchenko, it will depend "on the price situation and the situation in the market."

    President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced the deals …

  • Russia agrees to restructure loan provided to Belarus for nuclear power plant construction

    Moscow is ready to restructure the loan which was provided to Minsk for the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, reports Interfax news agency citing a source familiar with the draft amendments to  the intergovernmental agreement between the two countries.

    According to him, Russia has prepared and tentatively agreed with the Belarusian side on changes to the agreement. The document envisages an extension of the loan term by 2 years - until the end of 2022, as well as the …