Does Russia Get Along With Any Of Its Neighbors?

[Arrian]

Seems to me both sides are "right" in that Russia certainly should be able to charge market rates (any rate, really) for its product, and Belarus has the right to charge any tax it wants on the use of the pipeline (or shut the pipeline down). Now, they can work this out like adults or they can screw up their economies.

-Arrian

[Harovan]

Russia just announced, that it will put a great investment into the oil terminal Primorsk (N of St. Petersburg) to increase its yearly capacity from 45 to 120 million tons. That's about half the amount of oil currently sent through Belarus to the EU. It will be delivered by ship, thus bypassing potential Belarussian tax demands (the current ones have been lifted). A good decision, if you ask me. Screw you Lukashenko.

Russia also announced, that it will severely cut the subsidies for the Belarussian economy. At the moment (even after the dispute has been settled) Russia puts 5.8 billion $ worth of subsidies into Belarus, which has a total budget of about 14 billion $ (making it 41% of foreign subsidies!)

Link is here. Sorry, it's in German.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
assuming that the company that owns the pipeline is private, and it charges, say, $3 a barrel as a toll or fee, and the govt charges $1 on top of that, despite the govt not owning the pipeline, I think the correct english word for that would be a tax, specifically a transit tax( if it was specifically only applied to shipments that entered and then exited the country - otherwise a pipeline usage excise tax) Im not sure if thats the case in belarus.

The pipeline was built in socialist times as a joint effort of several states of the communist economic bloc and is currently owned by the Russian company Transneft. Belarus doesn't pay a single cent for its maintainance. So yes, "tax" is the correct word.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
Russia just announced, that it will put a great investment into the oil terminal Primorsk (N of St. Petersburg) to increase its yearly capacity from 45 to 120 million tons. That's about half the amount of oil currently sent through Belarus to the EU. It will be delivered by ship, thus bypassing potential Belarussian tax demands (the current ones have been lifted). A good decision, if you ask me. Screw you Lukashenko.

Russia also announced, that it will severely cut the subsidies for the Belarussian economy. At the moment (even after the dispute has been settled) Russia puts 5.8 billion $ worth of subsidies into Belarus, which has a total budget of about 14 billion $ (making it 41% of foreign subsidies!)

Link is here. Sorry, it's in German.

Pravda - March 20, 2006

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on winning re-election and said the vote results would help strengthen the alliance of the two ex-Soviet nations. Belarusian election officials said Lukashenko won a new five-year term with 82.6 percent of Sunday's vote, while the main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, called the official vote tally for Lukashenko "monstrously inflated" and denounced him as an "illegal, illegitimate president."



Russia, which has a union agreement with Belarus envisaging close political, economic and military ties, has staunchly backed Lukashenko, who has become a pariah in the West for his relentless crackdown on opposition and independent media. Putin said in a telegram to Lukashenko that the vote "higlighted voters' trust in your course aimed at strengthening welfare of the Belarusian people."

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Monday that the Belarus presidential election did not meet democratic standards, and the U.S. administration rejected the outcome of elections and supported calls for a new election.

"Russia and Belarus are tied by strong bonds of friendship," Putin said in his telegram, according to a Kremlin statement. "I'm convinced that by joining our efforts we would be able to move further toward building a union state and ensure a steady democratic development of our nations."

Western governments harshly criticized Belarus' election campaign, during which authorities jailed and harassed opposition activists, seized independent newspapers and beat an opposition candidate. But the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday said, "there is every reason to believe that the election has been held in conformity with universally recognized standards, and its legitimacy is beyond any doubt."

"The Belarusians have clearly expressed their will, and it must be viewed with respect," the ministry said. Russia in the past has accused the United States and other Western nations of encouraging regime change in the former Soviet republics of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, where massive protests triggered by election fraud helped unseat long-ruling governments, reports the AP.

[Harovan]

Well yea, neo-imperialist Russia strived to unite with Belarus quite a while, but Lukashenko realized, that this will go along with a loss of power for him, so being a good dictator he begun to refuse lately. This may be the cause of the recent unpleasantries. You either be a good vassal and take the bribe, or don't do both. The US propped a lot of regimes the same way in the past, and still does, and who dares to refuse the warm friendly embrace of Uncle Sam, doesn't fare very well either.

As for the bolded passage, I wouldn't call Russia or particularly Putin an expert of free and fair elections.