Vladimir Putin puts it across to his Belarusian counterpart what the benefits are.
Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky visited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the latter's Novo-Ogaryovo residence yesterday. Minsk had expected much from the visit hoping that the issue of Russia providing a $500 million tranche to Belarus could finally be settled. But a day before Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin had said that Russia would not grant the loan.
Thus, Mr Sidorsky knew the answer when he arrived in Novo-Ogaryovo.
- Belarus is still enjoying the most favourable fuel prices in the CIS and even in the world, - Vladimir Putin told Sydorski, who, apart from the loan, was concerned that those ‘most favourable prices' could rise in 2010.
- I mean natural gas with the cheapest tariffs, - Putin continued, - and oil, the low duty rates for which enable Belarusian refineries to work at full capacity and export rather large volumes bringing substantial profits in strong currency into the Belarusian budget.
Sergei Sidorsky became even gloomier than he was.
- And there is another decision we have taken, - Vladimir Putin went on. - We have also given Belarusian companies the same status as the Russian ones have for state procurement.
After Vladimir Putin's telling about all that Russia's generosity it would be inappropriate of Sidorsky to ask for anything else.
And he did not ask for anything, at least in public. He just made a cutting remark that the trade turnover between Russia and Belarus had ‘slightly decreased'.
- In fact, the trade turnover has fallen over the past eight months to where we were in 2005, - Sidorsky said. - Meanwhile, the GDP growth rates of the two countries have changed insignificantly as compared to the turnover decline.
After negotiating for two hours Putin and Sidorsky asked their delegations to go and went on one-on-one. Russian Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina spoke to journalists after that but did not say anything on the loan issue. Thus, she could not confirm what her colleague Alexei Kudrin had said a day before.