MINSK, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian political scientist known for criticism of the Belarusian authorities has not been allowed to visit Minsk for the New Year holidays, a spokesman for the country's law enforcement agencies said Tuesday.

"This is an official denial of the Belarusian side," the spokesman told RIA Novosti.

Andrei Suzdaltsev, who lived in Belarus for 13 years and whose wife and two children live in Minsk and hold the Belarusian citizenship, was deprived of the right to reside in Belarus in March 2006. The Belarusian authorities issued an official ruling on his deportation from the country also in March.

The former Soviet neighbors are currently involved in a dispute over natural gas prices for 2007. Belarus, which is building a Union State with Russia, today pays a discounted rate of $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas, but Russian energy giant Gazprom is now seeking a price raise.