BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

18/06/2009

Belarus denies Russian claim of $231 mln gas debt

MINSK, June 18 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus has been paying for Russian natural gas supplies in full, the country's deputy energy minister said on Thursday, dismissing reports of Gazprom's demand for payment of $231 million in overdue debt.

A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Minsk said on Wednesday that Gazprom had given Belarus until June 23 to pay the debt.

"Payments have been made in full based on the average annual price of about $150 per 1,000 cubic meters, as stipulated in the high-level agreements," Eduard Tovpenets said, adding that the ministry has received no official demands from the Russian gas monopoly.

The Russian Embassy spokesman, Vadim Gusyev, had told RIA Novosti: "Gazprom has sent a letter requesting payment of the outstanding debt for the January-May period." He said the debt had accumulated due to Belarus's failure to pay the contract price of $250 per 1,000 cu m.

Belarus's state company Beltransgaz has not released comments on the reports so far.

Energy prices have been an irritant in relations between the ex-Soviet republics, which have pledged to establish a "union state."

After a bitter dispute, Russia increased the price from a mere $46 to $100 per 1,000 cu m in 2007, and the two countries agreed the price would gradually rise to European levels by 2011.

Russian Ambassador to Minsk Alexander Surikov said in February that the "average" price of $150 per 1,000 cu m in 2009 could be changed depending on global crude and oil derivative prices. Gazprom denied such a scheme had been agreed.

Russia and Belarus have just steered out of a dairy product row, with Belarusian supplies to Russia being restored earlier on Thursday.

Moscow scrapped on Wednesday its ban on Belarusian dairy imports, after reaching a deal with Minsk. The ban was imposed earlier this month over Belarus's alleged failure to comply with new regulations.

Belarus briefly imposed tough customs controls on border crossings with Russia on Wednesday, but cancelled them later the same day after Moscow lifted the ban on dairy exports, which bring the country $1 billion in annual revenue.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20090618/155287362.html

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