BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

18/05/2007

Gazprom agrees to buy 50 pct of Belarus' Beltransgaz for 2.5 bln usd

MINSK (Thomson Financial) - Gazprom said it has agreed to acquire 50 pct of Belarussian gas pipeline operator Beltransgaz for 2.5 bln usd.

The shares will be paid for in four stages between 2007 and 2010. Gazprom will acquire 12.5 pct of Beltransgaz at each stage, said Gazprom.

The deal ends a gas dispute between the two countries that came to a head late last year when Gazprom announced a steep hike in the price it charged Belarus for natural gas.

At midnight on Dec 31, Belarus agreed to pay 100 usd per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas in 2007, a substantial increase from the subsidized 45 usd it had paid before that.

The deal also let Gazprom purchase half of Beltransgaz, and approximately doubled the price Gazprom pays for transit rights to pump gas to European markets through Belarus' territory.

The deal underscored Europe's dependence on energy supply arrangements in the former Soviet Union over which it has little control.

About 20 pct of Russia's gas supplies to Europe transit through Belarus.

Source:

http://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=43602508090109