BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

30/10/2006

Belarus says Lithuania won't experience problems with gas supplies in 2007

VILNIUS. Dec 30 (Interfax) - Lithuania will not experience problems with natural gas supplies after New Year's, Belarussian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky has promised.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas and Sidorsky had a telephone conversation on Friday to discuss prospects for gas transit through Belarus, to Lithuania, in case talks between Belarus and Russia on a new price for gas yield no results.

"The head of the Belarussian government assured Kirkilas that, in any case, there will be no disruption of gas supplies to Lithuania on the part of Belarus," Lithuanian prime minister's press secretary Nemira Pumprickaite told Interfax on Saturday.

Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov warned Belarus on Friday against siphoning off natural gas from the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which belongs to Gazprom and which runs through Belarus.

"There are several technological locks [on the gas pipeline]. They can be used for siphoning off export gas. But in this case, this would be not simply theft but burglary, because they are sealed," Gazprom spokesman.

Kirkilas said several times earlier this week that Vilnius was not inclined to over-dramatize the situation surrounding the absence of a gas export contract between Russia and Belarus, through which Lithuania receives all of its Russian gas. Kirkilas said Lithuania had a certain amount of gas in storage, as well as alternative routes of gas supplies through Latvia.

Source:

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=11656345