Russia Losing Money to Support Belarusian Economy – Putin

Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Moscow, 9 January: Losses to the Russian economy due to the [recently signed] gas agreements with Belarus will amount to 3.3bn dollars, of which the state budget will lose 1.3bn while Gazprom’s loss will run at 2bn dollars, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has said.

“This is Russia’s payment for the transition to market relations and direct support of Belarusian partners,” the head of state said at a meeting with the government [today].

“By buying a 50-per-cent stake in the Beltranshaz, Gazprom is becoming a minority shareholder since it has neither control nor even a say in managing this enterprise. In addition, we agreed to accept the highest estimate of the enterprise – 5bn dollars – and we are paying 2.5bn dollars. Essentially, this is another measure of our support to Belarusian partners,” the head of state said.

He noted that, taking into account what Russia was doing to support the Belarusian economy, he believed that both the Russian and Belarusian sides would adhere to agreements.

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