Bielnaftachim, a Belarusian oil company decreased fuel prices at the gas stations, after Lukashenka requested it in his speech. The oil prices are still 14% higher than they had been before Monday price increase.
Belarusian president demanded that oil prices go down – “Lets fix it so that from tomorrow on the fuel does not cost 5200-5100 rubles, but a maximum of 4500” – Lukashenka proposed during a conference on the current economic situation. He also announced that the fuel prices will be tied to dollar’s exchange rated and will not increase by more than 2-3 percent.
On Tuesday, in Belarus there was another increase in fuel prices, the second one in two weeks, and this time it amounted to 30 percent. The price increase was one of the points of the announced on Saturday plan of economic reforms aimed at tackling the economic crisis in Belarus. The fuel prices increase was meant to equate them with those in neighboring Russia and to ensure the viability of the refineries, which lose on selling gasoline in the domestic market.
The price increase provoked negative response from the society. On Tuesday evening on the main street of Minsk – the prospectus of Independence – a demonstration of several hundred opponents of the gasoline price increases was held. Participants who have organized via the Internet, blocked the main artery of the city, pretending cars crash or driving in circles. Five participants of the demonstration were detained and ordered to pay a fine.
Belsat
