BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/12/2007

Belarus to continue talks on Russian gas price in 2008

MINSK, December 19 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus will continue negotiations on the price of Russian natural gas in 2008, a Belarusian deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.

Ivan Bambiza told the Belarusian parliament that a price has so far only been agreed for the first quarter of 2008.

Under an agreement reached between Russian energy giant Gazprom and the ex-Soviet state, which is in the process of forming a Union State with Russia, Russian energy giant Gazprom will sell natural gas to Belarus in January-March at $119 per 1,000 cubic meters.

On January 1, Russia raised the price of its gas supplies to Belarus to $100 per 1,000 cubic meters from $46.7 in 2006, which sparked a dispute between the two countries, and provoked further accusations in Europe that Russia was using its oil and gas as a political weapon.

Meanwhile, Belarusian Energy Minister Alexander Ozerets said he didn't know what the future price would be. "We are living in market conditions, and it is the market that will determine the price of gas for Belarus."

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20071219/93154149.html

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