Milk dispute may trigger gas war
Belarus may dump Russia, build closer ties with NATO, Russian analyst warns
Belarus may withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and establish a dialogue with NATO, Mikhail Remizov, president of the Moscow-based Russian National Strategy Institute, told LentaCom.ru.
He said that Russia and Belarus have been flexing muscles. By imposing a ban on imports of dairy products from Belarus, Russia showed that Belarus' food industry is critically dependent on the Russian market. By boycotting Sunday's summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Alyaksandr Lukashenka demonstrated that Belarus is crucial for success of Russia's strategy of maintaining its predominant influence in the CIS. "The question is whether Russia is ready to sacrifice the system of regional influence that it has somehow managed to build for 15 years to this game with Lukashenka aimed to impose on him a required behavior or relationship," Remizov said.
He warned that if Belarus
decides to withdraw from its military alliance with Russia, it may try to establish a
dialogue with NATO.
Gryzlov: Belarus must decide whether it wants strategic partnership with Russia
The Belarusian leadership should decide whether it considers strategic partnership with Russia important and beneficial, Russian State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov said on June 15.
His remark follows the Belarusian leader's failure to appear at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Summit on Sunday.
Five of the CSTO member states – Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan – signed an agreement establishing a CSTO joint rapid response force, but Minsk described that accord as invalid. Uzbekistan back out of the deal, citing “some reservations.”
Ban hits products made under Russian licenses
Russia's milk import ban has been applied to Russian dairy products produced in Belarus under license agreements.
The brands affected
include Domik v Derevne, Lianozovskoye and Syrovarni Orlova owned by Russia's Vim
Bil Dan, the news site Moi Rayon reported.
Putin tells officials to think twice before lambasting Belarus
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged officials to exercise restraint while making statements about Belarus, Interfax reported.
In response to a
remark by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Sabyanin that the Belarusian government
politicized Russia's
milk import ban, Putin said: "Even if we believe that we have a point, we
should be mindful of what we say and where we speak, and show restraint."
Belarus may suspend dry milk export to Russia
Belarus may suspend dry milk export to Russia in Q2 and Q3, Yelena Skrynnik, the Russian agriculture minister, said at a cabinet meeting on Monday, according to Interfax.
She said that the agriculture ministries of the two countries signed a
joint import-export plan providing for a decrease in dry milk export from Belarus to Russia.
Russia determined to expand cooperation with Belarus, foreign
Moscow intends to continue active
cooperation with Minsk
despite the 'milk' problem and the Belarusians refusal
to attend the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
summit, Interfax quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying
on Monday. "We would like to reaffirm the Russian determination to
continue the enlargement of interaction with Belarus in
all spheres of the bilateral relations, for the benefit of
peoples of the two fraternal countries. We regard Belarus as a
reliable partner and ally," the ministry said.
Gazprom would not comment
Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom would not comment on allegations that Belarus runs up a debt for gas.
Russia's newspaper Kommersant reported that Belarus has a gas debt, referring to an unnamed source in Gazprom.
The newspaper speculated that the current dispute with Belarus over
milk import may trigger a new gas price war.
In late May, Antrei Kuznetsov, a diplomat with the Russian embassy in Minsk, accused Belarus of not fully paying its gas bills. He said that the country was supposed to pay $210 per 1000 cu meters of gas in Q1, while it actually paid an average of $150.
Earlier, the Belarusian and Russian leaders struck a deal whereby Minsk would pay $150 per unit, while the remaining amount is to be settled at the end of the year. However, Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Dmitry Medvedev did not sign a formal accord to that effect, Kommersant says.
Gazprom senior executive officer Sergei Kupriyanov said that no changes were made to the 2006 contract this year. Moscow can use the lack of formal agreement as a pretext for a new gas price dispute, the paper says.
Kommersant quotes an unnamed Gazprom official as saying that Belarus already runs up a debt for gas. The official would not specify the amount.
Official says dispute to be settled within week
Kazimir Ramanouski, an aid to Belarus' agriculture minister, said that a dispute over Russia's milk import ban would be settled within a week.
Belarus will take all samples within two days and send them to Rospotrebnadzor's laboratory, BelTA quoted the official as saying.
After Russia introduced new technical standards, some of Belarusian samples were tested at Rospotrebnadzor's laboratory, while others were taken to other laboratories, whose conclusions were rejected by Russia's federal sanitary authority.
Rospotrebnadzor which banned the import of dairy products from Belarus earlier this month
Belarus used to export about $1 billion worth of dairy products to Russia per year.
Belarusian dairy plants accused of supplying fake products to Russia
The import of the products from Belarus poses a “serious threat” to the development of Russia’s dairy industry, he noted.
Kazimir Ramanouski, an aid to Belarus' agriculture minister, said that a dispute over Russia's milk import ban would be settled within a week.
Belarus will take all samples within two days and send them to Rospotrebnadzor's laboratory, BelTA quoted the official as saying.
After Russia introduced new technical standards, some of Belarusian samples were tested at Rospotrebnadzor's laboratory, while others were taken to other laboratories, whose conclusions were rejected by Russia's federal sanitary authority.
Rospotrebnadzor which banned the import of dairy products from Belarus earlier this month
Belarus used to export about $1 billion worth of dairy products to Russia per year.
Photo — Sovetskaya Belorussiya
