BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/07/2007

Minsk Asks Moscow To Extend Gas Supply Debt Payment Deadlines

(AGI) - Minsk, Jul 24 - Belarus asked Russian giant Gazprom to extend yesterday's deadline for paying the 500 million USD debt accumulated on gas supplies. Belarus Energy Minister Alexander Ozerets said that a new delegation led by the minister himself asked Gazprom in Moscow during talks for an extension. "We are asking for an extension. Obviously we will have to pay a penalty that we are discussing at the moment," he pointed out.

Gazprom said that negotiations continue but did not want to give further details. Talks should end today, but according to some sources Belarus PM Sergei Sidorsky himself could fly to Moscow to reach a compromise. In recent months the war on gas prices in Moscow and Minsk risked cutting supply to Europe, as Belarus is the transit territory of about 20pct of Russian gas exports, especially those to Poland and Germany. The rest flows through Ukraine. The previous dispute took place in December, when Gazprom threatened to increase gas prices to Belarus due to political tension between the two countries. In January Minsk accepted to sell Gazprom have of Beltransgaz, the national company that manages pipelines, for 2.5 billion USD, and in exchange the Russian monopolist reduced the increases, bringing the price for 1,000 cubic metres of gas from 46 to 100 USD, instead of the previous figure of 200 USD. The agreement also allowed Belarus to pay only half of Russian supplies for six months, while the full payment started again from July.

Source:

http://www.agi.it/business/news/200707241436-ene-ren0053-art.html