Belarus president reaffirms dedication to Union State project, insists on level playing field

Belarus does not give up on any clause in the Union State Treaty, but insists on a level playing field, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview to the Interstate TV and Radio Company Mir on 2 April, BelTA reports.  

When asked about how he sees the development of the Union State, Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We have a treaty on the Union State. We do not give up on a single clause in the treaty. Let us take the most serious one that is being discussed today - the single currency. We are not against the single currency. It, however, needs to be a neutral currency, neither the Belarusian ruble, nor the Russian one.”

“I once said: “The question is not in what the ruble will be. The question is where the emission center will be located, and not even where but who will manage the emission center. Will it be done on an equal footing or, since Russia is a big country, it will manage its own ruble and we will eliminate ours and join them? - Aleksandr Lukashenko explained his position. “We have already been through this in the first years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when we were simply thrown out of the ruble zone. We were left with the Soviet rubles, while they [Russia] introduced the Russian ruble, and we started making our own money. I do not want to repeat that. This is first. Secondly, where will our sovereignty be then?”

He stressed once again that Belarus does not refuse anything, and recalled that the treaty implied the creation of equal conditions for citizens, enterprises and the two states as a whole. “If today Russia, leaving aside its imperial attitude (we are big and you are small), is ready to do it, let us negotiate, let us decide on the future,” said the Belarusian leader.

“The treaty exists. We have never given up on it. We are ready to stick to it, but the number one principle is equal conditions for people, enterprises, states. Today everything has been broken, and the coronavirus has violated the last, most important thing, which is equal conditions for people,” the Belarusian president said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said that if Russia had to do something, it should have at least warned Belarus about its border closure. “I understand if there had been some terrible situation there and it was necessary to take urgent action. However, there was no logic then. The situation in Belarus was not worse than in Russia. It was much better. I insist that it is not worse today as well. Secondly, why cut off the part of the Union State where there are no problems. They did not divide themselves into parts (Russia is huge) to block the movement of people and coronavirus carriers. This was simple recklessness. What about the saying ‘a friend in need in a friend indeed’?” the head of state said.

Speaking about an equal playing field for enterprises, the president cited energy prices as an example: “In Russia, until recently, the price for natural gas was two or three times lower than in Belarus. The same is true for oil. Tell me, what are the equal conditions?”

Aleksandr Lukashenko added that the companies of businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev were the only ones to supply Russian oil to Belarus at the beginning of the year. Back then, Belarus was advised to negotiate with suppliers. “Only Gutseriyev supplied oil here. What have they done now? They [the Russian side] said they would decide on which companies will supply oil here [Belarus]. Wait, you have always pushed us to negotiate with them [companies] within the market principle. Why should you decide? We pay money, we will hold a tender, and whoever wins will supply the product,” the president said.

The head of state also has questions about the pricing of the Russian natural gas supplied to Belarus. The Belarusian leader has recently discussed this topic in a telephone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. “$127 (per 1,000 cubic meters). They [Russia] gave us this contract (like we cannot do less) at the end of last year. $20 we pay them for Beltransgaz which they bought from us. A total of $147. They sell gas to Ukraine almost at the same price,” the head of state said.

He stated that at present gas prices on the world market have gone down along with oil prices: “There is no such price in Europe already. $80 in Germany. The product needs to be pumped there, and these are the main costs. It means that for Belarus the price could actually be about $40-45 taking into account logistics.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko also mentioned the problems with the supply of Belarusian food products to the Russian market and the restrictive quotas for Belarusian truckers.

“If we do not solve the issues concerning the life of our people and enterprises, which are on the agenda today, what road map No.31 can we talk about, what single currency and the unified Tax Code can we talk about?” the Belarusian leader said. “We have one formula. We need to solve the issues of today. Why will we focus on ‘a far future’ if there is no foundation today?”

“Let us resolve these issues on certain principles that are enshrined in the treaty. We do not demand anything extra. The main principle is equality, equal conditions. There will be no questions then. We need to resolve today's issues. There are about ten of them, not more,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

As for further work on the implementation of the Union State Treaty, the president said that the road maps have been coordinated in many areas. Belarus’ position is to take the best what Belarus or Russia has in terms of legislation and regulations, and not just automatically adopt the Russian system.

“We understand that we cannot agree on political issues, the so-called road map No. 31 (parliament, government and so on) today. We have agreed with President Putin to put it aside and do not discuss these issues today,” the president said.