BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/08/2006

Belarus to Pay off Gazprom Debt

A Belarusian energy official said Thursday it plans to pay off its debt for natural gas supplies to Russian natural gas behemoth Gazprom by the end of the year.

Belarus purchases some 20 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas annually from state-controlled Gazprom.

Rimma Filimonovam, deputy energy minister, said the country has reduced the amount it owes Gazprom from approximately $158 million as of January 2005 to $61.4 million as of July 1.

The country`s debt to Gazprom dropped by 30 percent from about $88 million since January, the Belarusian deputy minister said.

In addition to its gas debt, Belarus has been eager to pay off other energy-related debts.

Belarus` debt to Russia for electric power supplies, meanwhile, also fell to $2.4 million as of July 1 from approximately $11 million in January 2005, she said.

Earlier this year, Gazprom officials have indicated they would like to increase the price of its gas supplies to Belarus to to $146 per 1,000 cubic meters starting January 2007, before indicating an even higher price of $200 per 1,000 cubic meters. The current prices stands at $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters, under a Russian-Belarusian agreement signed in 2002.

Source:

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/energywatch/news/article_1191947.php/Energy_Watch_-_August_18