Belarus says can do without Russian oil if independence at stake

MINSK, Feb 3 (PRIME) -- Belarus can do without Russian oil if its independence is at stake, President Alexander Lukashenko said at a news conference on Friday.

“It is clear that we will manage without Russian oil. It will be very difficult for us. Yaroslav (Romanchuk) will say that it is not feasible, efficient, but freedom, independence – this is very feasible, and this can’t be valued by any money and any figures,” he said, referring to a former presidential candidate.

“This is incomparable, if independence is on one scale and Russian, Iranian, Azeri or the U.S. oil is on the other – this is not comparable. We will find a solution anyway. Russia unfortunately does not understand it.”

Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko will continue talks with Russia over energy prices on Saturday, Lukashenko said.

He also said he believed that Belarus has the right for a reduction of the Russian gas price due to lower global oil prices.

“Gas is tied to oil. When oil stood at U.S. $120 (per barrel), everything was good. We paid huge money for oil. Correspondingly gas was tied to this oil. And its price was high. And we paid this price. Oil fell to $40, now it is $51 and etc, therefore the price for natural gas also decreased,” Lukashenko said.

The fair price for gas is $83 per 1,000 cubic meters, but Russia refuses to cut it saying that the price of $132, which Belarus currently pays, is already the lowest, he said. In 2016, Belarus paid $107 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas instead of $132, he added.

Lukashenko also said that Belarus lost $15 billion due to unequal prices and conditions in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

In early 2016, Minsk said that Russian prices for gas are unfair and started paying less for the commodity unilaterally. Moscow cut duty-free oil supplies to Belarus saying there were shortfalls in duty-free oil product shipments to Russia, which Minsk was to carry out in return for the oil. In October 2016, the countries said they reached an agreement, but the dispute is yet to be solved.

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