OREANDA-NEWS  On 20 November was announced, that despite the global financial crisis Belarus and Latvia must preserve mutual outlets. This statement made Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky after opening BelarusEXPO-2008 in Riga.

‘The financial crisis has proved the inefficiency of the “paper” financial system, which is why real commodity production will remain the key economic driver. Export markets are essential for our makers, and we must do our best to preserve traditional outlets,” Sidorsky said.

According to the premier, the key thing now is to “expand commodity-money relations”.

His Latvian counterpart Ivars Godmanis said Belarus and Latvia were negotiating the safety of Latvia’s energy system. “It is important that the safety net we provide for each other should be on a more serious basis,” he said.

Asked whether Latvia was going to purchase oil products from Belarus, Godmanis said “the price is not clear yet.”

“I am not very optimistic about it, and I don’t believe the price will be falling. I would not rely on low prices, while the volume of supplies depends on prices,” he added.