BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

01/08/2007

Russian gas giant to cut supply to Belarus

Russian gas giant Gazprom warned Wednesday that it will cut gas supplies to Belarus by nearly half from Friday, accusing Minsk of delays in making payments.

"The daily amount of gas supplied to Belarus under the contract will be cut according to the actual payments, by 45 percent as of 10:00 Moscow time (0600 GMT) on Aug. 3," the state-owned monopoly said in a press release.

Russia and Belarus have been embroiled in an oil and gas dispute since last winter after Gazprom doubled the natural gas price to 100 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters as part of a process of gradually bringing former Soviet republics in line with market rates for energy supplies.

The dispute over prices led to disruptions in oil supplies to several European countries earlier this year.

Belarus, a country of 10 million people, depends heavily on cheap energy and has asked Moscow for more time to pay the bill. Belarus is also a key transit country for Russian oil and gas supplies to western Europe.

Gazprom's export division Gazprom Export, however, has promised to secure gas supply to the European market via pipelines in Belarus.

"Gazprom will take every measure possible to ensure the gas transit through Belarus should continue in full compliance with the liabilities it has to European consumers," the gas company said.

Source:

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/6229584.html