BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/11/2006

Belarusian President Optimistic About Talks On Gas Price With Russia And Skeptical About Use Of Outside Appraisal Of Beltranshaz's Value

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka on November 13 said that natural gas will flow to Belarus without interruption and in amounts sufficient to satisfy the needs of the economy and the population, Belapan reported, quoting official sources. Lukashenka was commenting on his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on November 10. "The appropriate economic entities will manage to agree on a price soon, I guess, before the end of the year," Lukashenka said. "We agreed that we would proceed from market conditions; that is, the price should be negotiated. This is the backbone of market conditions. The price will be what the heads of Beltranshaz [Belarus's gas-pipelines operator] and Gazprom will manage to negotiate," he added. JM

President Lukashenka on November 13 suggested that the appraisal by the Netherlands' ABN AMRO bank of the assets of Belarus's Beltranshaz, which is expected this month, would determine little in future talks with Gazprom on establishing a joint venture to control Belarusian gas pipelines, Belapan reported. Lukashenka stressed that the value of Beltranshaz will be essentially determined in negotiations with Gazprom. Gazprom voiced its intention long ago to purchase a 50 percent stake in Beltranshaz, but the two sides have not been able to agree on a price. Minsk claimed that Beltranshaz is worth some $5 billion while Gazprom was reportedly ready to pay no more than $500 million for its stake. Lukashenka said he reminded Putin last week that the Germans have acquired for $5.5 billion a Czech pipeline network that is one-third the size of Beltranshaz's. This is why, Lukashenka noted on November 13, Beltranshaz should be actually valued at some $10 billion or even $12 billion. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2006/11/3-cee/cee-141106.asp