BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
21/03/2008
Russia raises gas price for Belarus
MOSCOW/MINSK, March 21 (Reuters) - Russia will sell gas to Belarus at $128 per 1,000 cubic metres in the second quarter of 2008, up from $119 in the first quarter, news agencies quoted an economy ministry official as saying on Friday.
Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Belousov told reporters in Minsk the price of natural gas would be calculated according to the same formula the two countries were using in the first quarter.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said earlier on Friday Russia was not going to review the formula any time soon.
"The contracts were signed in December 2006. All the issues arising should be solved according to the contracts," Zubkov said after attending a Russia-Belarus government meeting in Minsk.
According to the contracts, the price for Russian gas to Belarus is set at 67 percent of the average price of gas to Europe in 2008.
The contracts also stipulate that the price is supposed to increase to 80 percent of the European price in 2009 and to 100 percent in 2011.
Moscow raised gas prices for Belarus by $19 per 1,000 cubic metres starting this year from $100 in 2007, although government sources in Minsk have said Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) was seeking an increase of up to 60 percent.
Gazprom traditionally charged Minsk the lowest price it billed its foreign customers, and any signs of Gazprom's intention to raise prices were severely opposed by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Gazprom is seeking to switch to market prices for former Soviet Union countries after having supplied them with cheap gas for almost 15 years.
(Reporting by Tanya Mosolova in Moscow and Andrei Makhovsky in Minsk; writing by Tanya Mosolova; editing by Chris Johnson)
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSL2164884620080321
Archive
