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Lukashenka blames Putin for 2004 gas cut-off

Alyaksandr Lukashenka on Friday confirmed that it was Vladimir Putin who ordered Russian gas deliveries stopped to Belarus over a contract dispute in January 2004, BelaPAN said.

Mr. Lukashenka was asked to comment on remarks by Mikhail Kasyanov, Russia’s then prime minister, who said that he had opposed the gas cut-off ordered by Mr. Putin, who was president at that time.

“Kasyanov did not make the decision to cut off gas to Belarus, he writes the truth. Moreover, he flatly opposed such approaches because he knew that economic consequences, in particular those concerning the image, would be spoiled between the two countries and the two countries’ governments would have to clear up that mess,” he said.

Referring to another gas dispute that followed two years later, Mr. Lukashenka said that he had pleaded with Moscow not to double the price of gas for Belarus.

“I told Putin not to do this, this threatened Belarusian-Russian relations with horrible losses. This wound cannot be healed. But nevertheless gas was cut off,” he said.

Belarus currently offers favorable gas and oil transit conditions to Russia, but the latter is eyeing routes bypassing Belarus, according to Mr. Lukashenka. He warned that Russia would lose $24 per ton by transporting oil along routes bypassing Belarus. “Why do you need this? Do you have enough money to waste on this?” he wondered.