Russia, which hopes to buy more than seven billion dollars worth of Belarussian assets as it helps Minsk tackle a currency crisis, expressed opposition on Saturday to tougher European sanctions against Belarus firms. The EU has already imposed a travel ban against Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko and about 150 of his close political associates following his crackdown on political opponents after a disputed presidential election last December.
Foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland said on May 20 the EU planned further sanctions targeting Lukashenko and companies that finance his government. They mentioned no names but large state-owned firms are the likely targets. Russia said that would be counterproductive. "We believe such steps will not help in achieving the results we are talking about," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a joint news conference with his Polish and German counterparts in the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.
"We are convinced that under any circumstances, involvement rather than isolation will facilitate market and democratic reforms (in Belarus)," Lavrov told the news conference shown on state television. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the EU did not want to isolate Belarus. "We want to punish those responsible for prison (opposition) verdicts. We are talking about sanctions, not a boycott or embargo," he said.
Russia and Kazakhstan have been seeking to integrate Belarus into an economic union but often met stiff resistance from authoritarian Lukashenko who skilfully played on differences between the EU and Russia. Faced with the deepening currency crisis and Western criticism over the clampdown on opposition, Lukashenko bowed to Russian pressure and tentatively agreed to sell some of the country's most valuable firms in exchange for financial support.
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Thursday Belarus could raise at least $7.5 billion from privatisation in the next two to three years to supplement a proposed $3.5 billion bailout loan backed by Moscow. Russia is eyeing the country's oil refineries, the gas pipeline system, its main mobile phone provider and its potash production complex. Some of these firms may become targets of EU sanctions which is likely to affect their value.