Belarus has denied any link between the suspension of the Belarusian section of a petroleum pipeline from Russia to Latvia, and Russia's ban on meat imports from Belarus, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports on its Web site Wednesday, citing a government spokesman.
"It has been a surprise for us that some Internet sources linked the ban on the operation of the petroleum product pipeline with the ban on the delivery of meat products," Vitaly Novitsky, a spokesman for the Belarusian emergencies ministry, is quoted as saying.
Belarus suspended its section of the Unecha-Ventspils oil pipeline, citing its unsatisfactory technical condition, immediately after Russia's veterinary watchdog announced a temporary ban on meat supplies from two Belarusian meat plants over the alleged presence of harmful substances, RIA Novosti reports.