BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/08/2007

Gazprom, Beltransgaz complete negotiations over 456.2 mln usd debt repayment

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - OAO Gazprom said it has completed negotiations with OAO Beltransgaz over the Belarussian company's 456.2 mln usd debt for natural gas supplies received this year.

'Negotiations have been completed, the first payment made,' Gazprom said in a statement.

'In addition to this Gazprom expects full settlement of the outstanding debt within a week and 100 pct completion of current payments.'

Beltransgaz today said it had transferred a partial payment of 190 mln usd to Gazprom.

Gazprom earlier threatened to cut pipeline shipments to the former Soviet republic by 45 pct from today if the debt was not repaid.

The incident was the latest stand-off between Russia and one of its neighbours to raise fears of supply cuts among western European consumers, who receive 20 pct of their Russian gas via Belarus.

A similar dispute over gas prices between Russia and Ukraine, another key transit country, prompted cut-offs last year that hit supplies to western Europe and sparked a wide debate about growing reliance on Russian energy.

The European Commission responded to the current dispute by calling for a meeting next week of the EU's gas coordination group, saying in a statement Thursday that 'a safe and undisturbed supply of energy is of key importance for Europe's economy.'

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that Minsk would pay the full sum from national currency reserves, while slamming Russia for what he characterised as strong-arm tactics to gain Belarussian energy assets.

'Russia doesn't just want to privatise a few enterprises, it wants to take them for free. They want to privatise the whole country,' he said.

Minsk and Moscow have repeatedly clashed in recent years as Gazprom has sought control of Belarussian gas infrastructure and Belarus has tried to hold on to steep subsidies for Russian gas.

Gazprom more than doubled gas prices to Belarus to 100 usd per 1,000 cubic meters on January 1, and in May, it won a deal to acquire 50 percent of Belarus' national pipeline operator for 2.5 bln usd.

Source:

http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/032007113706.htm

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