It just never goes away does it? This article says that Minsk will now pay market rates for its natural gas. They say it is an attempt to take over Belarus pipelines, but there is a nagging suspicion in the back of my head that this is also a way to set the stage for negotiations with Ukraine. "Everyone pays market rates."
One analyst said that what is really driving this is Russia's lack of investment capital to modernize its gas industry. His point is that they are raising that capital but upping their rates. "No offense, its just business," would be this view.
Note that this announcement comes after presidential elections in Belarus, so as not to hurt Lukashenko like it did Yushchenko. But if the rates really are raised, it will screw him over bad, and his position will be even more precarious than ever.
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