17 September 2002 20:45
Belarusian leader will not ask Russia to pay for use of military facilities
Minsk, 17 September: Alyaksandr Lukashenka strongly contests the view held in some quarters that Russia is allegedly
"sponsoring Belarus". Addressing a news conference this evening, he produced a number of facts and arguments
which refute this point of view.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka drew attention to the fact that about 200m tonnes of freight travels, "under privileged
terms", across Belarus from Russia to Europe or vice versa.
Explaining his position at the request of an ITAR-TASS correspondent, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that, for example,
"the shipment of gas and other Russian goods to Western Europe through Belarus is four times cheaper than through
Ukraine and eight times cheaper than through Poland".
He also recalled that the Hantsavichy [near Baranavichy in Brest Region] and Vileyka [in Minsk Region] radar stations
are operating on Belarusian territory. According to Lukashenka, Russia "pays us nothing" for these two
military installations.
At the same time, he recalled that Belarusian troops guarantee the Russian Federation's security in the west and
that Belarus had set up important infrastructure on the customs border of the Belarusian-Russian union.
Quoting Western sources, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that if world prices were to be charged, Belarus could earn an
additional 800m-1,000m US dollars from the transit of gas and oil products alone. By contrast, Belarusian enterprises
owe Russia only 215m dollars for gas, the Belarusian leader said.
However, as Alyaksandr Lukashenka stressed, Belarus is not suggesting that Russia should pay for the military
facilities, for example. "No matter what policies the leadership of Russia now pursues, we will always be true to
our friendship with ordinary Russians, citizens of Russia. We will always be reliable assistants and defenders for
them," the Belarusian president emphasized.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
