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| Belarus asks Chávez for help on gas debt |
| 2007-08-03 |
| Belarus has turned to Venezuela to help pay back a $456m debt to Russia for gas supplies after Moscow threatened to halve its gas deliveries, Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusan president, said on Thursday. “I have instructed the government to reach into the reserve fund for $460m to pay Russia for gas. Hugo Chávez [the president of Venezuela] and our other friends can give us credits today. Even foreign commercial banks are prepared to lend to Belarus,” the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Mr Lukashenko as saying. Gazprom, the state-owned Russian gas group, greeted the Belarusan leader’s words with scepticism. It said: “They must explain what they mean. It’s one thing to say you are going to pay a debt and another thing to actually pay.” The company said Gazprom’s threat to reduce gas supplies to Belarus this morning “was still on the table”. On Thursday night a delegation from Beltransgaz, the Belarussian state gas distribution company, rushed to Moscow for emergency talks with Gazprom about settlement of the outstanding debt payments. More details at the link. Putin's moving hard on Europe via Gazprom. |
| Posted by:lotp |