BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/07/2007

Belarus PM to visit Moscow for gas debt talks

MINSK, July 27 (Reuters) - Belarus Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky will fly to Moscow on Monday in a bid to reach a compromise with Russia's Gazprom on repayment of $500 million of debt for gas deliveries, his office said on Friday.

A delegation from Belarus, headed by Energy Minister Alexander Ozerets, asked Russia's gas monopoly to delay the repayment, originally scheduled for July 23, during two-day crisis talks in Moscow earlier this week.

"The heads of governments will discuss the realisation of a trade and economic cooperation agreement between Belarus and Russia, as well as the two countries' interaction in the energy sphere," Sidorsky's office said in a statement.

Analysts have said Minsk can afford to pay the full price of $100 per 1,000 cubic metres of Russian gas in force this year -- up from the old price of $46 that was heavily subsidised by Moscow.

Belarus has signed to import 21.5 billion cubic metres of gas from Russia this year, including 10 bcm in the first half.

Source:

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070727/3/35gqa.html