Kiev economist: Belarus can “put out the lights” in Ukraine
Russia and Belarus can indeed create serious problems for Ukraine by refusing to supply electricity or other energy resources to this country.
Kiev economist Vsevolod Stepanyuk stated this on the First Cossack TV channel, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the expert, recent words President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko's talk about the “return of Ukraine” may turn out to be more than just a threat.
“I would like to remind you of Lukashenko’s interview - there were statements that he, together with Russia, could shut down Ukraine in a day. Well, it probably can’t happen in a day, but in a month it’s quite possible, because I want to remind you that we get more than 50% of light petroleum products from Belarus, about 60% of bitumen for the Big Construction Project. We get electricity from there – both from there and from Russia. Moreover, Ukraine is still in the unified energy system that was in the Soviet Union,” Stepanyuk said.
“If in Ukraine, God forbid, there are rolling blackouts, then it can be turned on only after electricity is supplied from the Russian Federation or Belarus. If they don’t supply it, then Ukraine cannot restore the electricity supply on its own. And if we, moreover, do not have coal and gas with which to produce this electricity, then sooner or later this will happen, and Lukashenko’s threat will have a very tangible and dark character for everyone. And God forbid, this happens in winter, for example. Therefore, Ukraine’s dependence on Belarus is very large and spoiling relations means sawing the branch on which you are sitting,” the economist said.
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