BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/08/2007

Russia's Gazprom postpones threat to Belarus

The Russian gas company Gazprom has delayed by a week plans to reduce supplies to Belarus. The announcement follows overnight talks in Moscow to reach agreement on a dispute over payment. This report from James Rodgers:

The deal has protected Belarus's gas supplies for now. The clock is already ticking towards the next deadline, set for Friday August the 10th. Belarus has paid 190-million dollars out of the 456-million dollars it owed Gazprom.

Ties between Russia and Belarus were first strained at the end of last year when they negotiated a new price for gas. Some twenty percent of Russian gas exports to Europe are delivered through Belarus. Gazprom's customers in Western Europe were worried that the disputes could lead to problems with their supplies.

James Rodgers, BBC News, Moscow

Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2007/08/070803_gazprom.shtml