Party of Regions: Ukraine won't subsidize Belarusian economy just because has problems

The Party of Regions has confirmed information in mass media that Belarus has raised additional monetary claims to Ukraine.

The matter concerns return of debts of Soviet times in return to ratification of the agreement on the border.

"The fact that this demand of Belarus falls outside the agreements has no practical sense we believe. Ukraine won't subsidize the Belarusian economy if it has some problems," said the representative of the Supreme Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs Leonid Kozhara from the Party of Regions to "Novy region".

"I find that unsubstantiated," he stressed speaking aboy Minsk's monetary claims.

"I think that the value of relations between Ukraine and Belarus goes beyond the issue of cross-cancellation of debts after the Soviet Union collapse. Ukraine is a very valuable partner itself, and we say that we have more than 4 billion dollars of trade turnover with belarus annually. That is why we should care about prospects, and not think about the past. And additional demands today do not look justified. They are not aimed at development of the bilateral relations," Kozhara warned.

As "Kommersant Ukrainy" newspaper informed yesterday with a reference to sources in diplomatic circles, official Minsk does not give ratification instruments and demands Kyiv to pay 130 million dollars of the alleged state debt.

According to the source, the conflict between Kyiv and Minsk has already resulted in disruption of bilateral high-level negotiations. Last Friday, May 28, a meeting of Ukrainian and Belarusian presidents Viktor Yanukovych and Alyaksandr Lukashenka was planned in Baturin, Chernihiv region. The regional traffic police has even disseminated a warning that the road from the Belarusian border to Baturin would be blocked, however the visit didn't took place.

Besides, as said by the source in the presidential administration of Ukraine, the meeting had been prepared till the last minute, and only on the eve of it a decision was adopted to cancel the meeting. "Minsk has made it clear that they are not going to finish the ratification procedure and enter into effect the agreement on the border. In such situation a summit meeting had no sense, and we agreed to cancel it," said the Ukrainain diplomat.

We remind that the agreement between Belarus and Ukraine on the state border was signed in 1997 and was ratified by Ukraine in the same year. For 13 years Belarus abstained from its ratification. Minsk demanded frm Kyiv to pay the debt of Ukrainian economic entities to Belarus first. The debt had accumulated since 1992. Kyiv refused to acknowledge this debt.