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Belarus Energy
Belarus's transition from communism to democracy proved
to be
more difficult than expected, economically as well as
politically. What had once been a boon to industry in the
Belorussian SSR--large volumes of inexpensive oil, natural
gas,
and electricity from the Russian Republic--quickly became
a
considerable problem for independent Belarus. Under the
communist
regime, industry had had no incentive to use fuels
efficiently,
modernize equipment, reduce pollution, maintain factories
adequately, recycle, or allot energy resources
efficiently.
However, once Russian fuel prices began to approach world
levels,
Belarusian industry had to adjust in order to survive.
Logic
would seem to call for enterprises improving their
industrial
efficiency, but the oil refineries at Navapolatsk
(capacity 22
million tons a year) and Mazyr (capacity 18 million tons a
year),
as well as many enterprises, cut their output instead. The
30
percent drop in energy consumption between 1990 and 1993
was the
result of a drop in demand for industrial goods produced
in
Belarus, partly because of the chaotic state of the Soviet
economy in the last years of the Soviet Union's existence,
and
partly because the Soviet Union no longer needed so many
goods
for its military.
By mid-1993 Belarus's debt to Russia for oil and
natural gas
had reached US$450 million. After several warnings, Russia
temporarily cut off Belarus's supply in August and
threatened to
do so again on at least two other occasions. In an attempt
to
head off a crisis, government authorities resorted to
allocating
energy to priority sectors in 1994.
Russia's suspension of fuel shipments to Belarus yet
again in
September 1994 over unpaid fuel bills was the impetus for
Belarus
to sign an agreement giving the Russian state gas company
ownership of its Belarusian counterpart, Beltransgaz, in
exchange
for the resumption of gas deliveries, but the agreement
was not
ratified by the Supreme Soviet of Belarus. Beltransgaz
made
additional offers of means of repayment, and Russia
countered
with conditions of its own and hinted that failure to meet
these
conditions would result in Russia's rerouting pipelines to
Western Europe through either Lithuania or Latvia--a blow
to
Belarus.
Because delivery of natural gas in 1995 at
lower-than-world
prices was made contingent upon Belarus's timely payment
of its
bills, Belarus felt the need to diversify its sources of
fuels.
The government's long-term energy program, in place in
early
1995, aimed to diversify its sources of fuels from such
countries
as Poland, Australia, Turkmenistan, and Norway.
In 1993 Belarus imported some 90 percent of its fuel
from
Russia via the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline and the
Northern
Lights natural gas pipeline, both of which pass through
the
country en route to Central Europe. Refineries at Polatsk
and
Mazyr processed some of the crude oil for fuel, and the
Polatsk
refinery also provided raw material for fertilizer,
plastics, and
artificial fibers. In 1992 Belarus had 1,470 kilometers of
pipeline carrying crude oil, 1,100 kilometers of pipeline
carrying refined products, and 1,980 kilometers of
pipeline
carrying natural gas.
In January 1995, Russia and Belarus signed an agreement
under
which Russia was to deliver some 66 percent of Belarus's
yearly
required crude oil at prices that did not exceed domestic
Russian
prices (which were set to rise significantly over the
course of
the year). In exchange, Belarus would export products to
Russia,
although finding enough products that Russia wants could
be a
problem.
Although Belarus imports most of its fuels, it has
small
deposits of oil and natural gas close to the Polish
border, as
well as oil shale, coal, and lignite. Belarus's production
of 13
percent (2 million tons) of its crude oil production and 2
percent (2.4 million tons) of its natural gas consumption
was
stable in 1994.
Belarus also has a large supply of peat (more than
one-third
of the total for the former Soviet Union), which is used
to power
industry, heat homes, and fuel boilers at electric power
plants.
In 1993 thirty-seven factories produced about 2 million
tons of
peat briquettes.
In 1994 Belarus's twenty-two thermal power plants had a
production capacity of 7,033 megawatts and produced 31,400
million kilowatt-hours of electricity. Additional small
power
plants had a total capacity of 188 megawatts. There were
also
nine small hydroelectric power plants with a total
installed
capacity of some six megawatts. All but three plants
produced
heat as well as electricity.
The country's power grid is connected to the grids of
Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Most electricity
imports
come from Lithuania (the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant) and
Russia
(the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant), but even here, Belarus
has
had problems in paying for its imports. In May 1995,
Lithuania
resumed electricity exports after more than two years;
Belarus
agreed to make payment in Russian natural gas.
During the Soviet era, nuclear energy was promoted as
an
inexpensive source of electricity, but after the
Chornobyl'
accident, many people in Belarus were opposed to nuclear
power. A
nuclear power plant was under construction near Minsk in
the
early 1990s, and the country had no nuclear generating
capacity
at that time.
Data as of June 1995
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