Council of Ministers Wants to Reduce Dependence on Natural Gas to 55%

26.07.2010 09:22
Архив Редакция

By 2020, the proportion of energy, produced from natural gas, in Belarus' fuel and energy balance is expected to decline from 94% to 55%. This statement was made by Vice-Premier of Belarus, Vladimir Semashko, during a visit of the President Alexander Lukashenko to mini thermoelectric plant in Pruzhany city, Brest region.

«There are different methods to solve this problem. Early next week, the government will offer you all possible options», Deputy Prime Minister declared, referring to the President, press office of the head of state informs.

According to Vladimir Semashko, to reduce energy dependence on natural gas there should help nuclear power plant, hydropower plants, thermal power plants on local fuels, wind power plants running in 2011-2015. As a result, the purchase of natural gas can be reduced by 7.5-8 billion cubic meters. As part of the government’s program, in Belarus it is also planned to build 161 small-energy facilities (26 mini-thermoelectric plants among them), running on local fuels.

The President approved the government’s program, but demanded to increase the share of domestic parts when building mini-thermoelectric plants and boiler rooms. «For such objects we have to produce everything here, except the know-how, we can not decode. We must act in Chinese way. We will not purchase everything abroad. We have a lot of smart people, we can establish a joint venture, we will create 95% of components here, in Belarus, and we will bring just 5%, for example, from Finland», Alexander Lukashenko said. He also added that «we do not have excess foreign currency, which we could to just bring abroad».

The President supported the idea to build mini-thermoelectric plants on local fuels nationwide. «We must build such a station in every district. And it does not mean that only in district centers. You should not forget that it creates job places», the President said. In his view, if the program is successful, «our district centers will look different».

According to Alexander Lukashenko, the construction of thermoelectric plants on local fuel will attract to the Belarusian market the capital from neighboring countries, primarily from Russia and Ukraine. The President also admitted that private developers may be engaged in their construction. «We’ll see how a private developer will do it, because a private not to spend single extra penny», the President said.

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