BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/08/2007

Belarus pays the bill to Gazprom

source: Agencies

Belarus pays half a billion dollars to Russia to settle gas bills

The president of Belarus promised to pay nearly half a billion dollars to the Russian energy giant Gazprom to avoid cut in gas deliveries.

Belarus is a key transit country for Russian oil and gas supplies to Western Europe. About 20 percent of Russian gas exports to European Union are transited through Belarus, mainly to Poland, Germany and Lithuania.

The European Commission, concerned by a gas dispute between Russia and Belarus, believes that a safe and undisturbed supply of energy is of key importance for Europe's economy.

In an effort to avert the crisis, Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, said that Minsk would pay the full sum from its national currency reserves.

Gazprom had said on Wednesday that Belarus' failure to pay the gas bills would result in a 45 percent reduction in supplies.

Source:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=18326§ionid=351020602

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