Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko replaced his prime minister of seven years on Tuesday with another long-time ally in a reshuffle that comes less than two weeks after the presidential election. Lukashenko, elected to his fourth term on Dec. 19, named Mikhail Myasnikovich as the head of the government and replaced four of the five serving deputy ministers. "Myasnikovich has been named the prime minister," the president's press service told Reuters on Tuesday. Myasnikovich replaces Sergei Sidorsky who had been the country's prime minister since 2003. Of the deputy prime ministers only Vladimir Semashko, who has been responsible for energy negotiations with Russia, including the recent agreement on Moscow scrapping oil export duties to Minsk, has kept his post.
