BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/12/2006

Belarus threatens to stop Russian gas supplies through its pipelines

Author : Jayesh P. Yadav

MOSCOW: Belarus has threatened to stop deliveries of Russian gas through its pipelines to western Europe until Russian energy monopoly Gazprom scales down its demand for steep increase in price of natural gas planned for the new year.

Belarus' deputy prime minister Vladimir Semashko said at Minsk the two countries are inter-dependent and if Belarus does not have a domestic gas supply contract, Gazprom will not have a transit deal. Semashko had been to Moscow where the talks on the price escalation failed Tuesday.

Gazprom meanwhile said it will halt supply of natural gas to Belarus if it does not agree to the price increase. It said the latest round of talks have failed but emphasized its customers in western Europe are safe as it had stocks of gas built up in Germany and Austria.

Belarus pays $46.7 per 1,000 cubic meter of gas, which is the cheapest rate for the Gazprom gas in the erstwhile Soviet Union and the Russian energy company is insisting that it pays more than double the current price, even though it will still be paying less than the richer countries in Europe.

Gazprom hopes that a deal is still possible.

Belarus is a supply route for Gazprom with smaller volumes of gas going to Poland and Germany, while Ukraine is a major transit route covering some 20 European states.

Gazprom claimed it has offered major concessions to Belarus at Saturday's talks including lowering the proposed price to $110 per 1,000 cubic meters from the previous proposal of $200. Gazprom will charge Moldova $170 in 2007 and Georgia $235, while consumers in Europe pay over $250.

Source:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/16158.html