BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/08/2007

Belarus says pays Gazprom in full for July gas

MINSK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Belarus has fully paid its July bill for Russian gas deliveries, the country's state gas operator said on Wednesday, in a move that will further soothe fears over a resumption of pricing disputes with Russia.

A Beltransgas spokesman confirmed the July gas bill had been paid in full but did not say how much the country paid.

In July, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom threatened to reduce supplies to Belarus, which is also an important transit route to Europe, to punish Minsk for not paying $465 million for gas deliveries in the first half of 2007.

Belarus fully redeemed the debt for January-June, which arose from the fact that the country was given a grace period of six months to switch to new prices for gas of $100 per 1,000 cubic metres, up from $46 per 1,000 cubic metres in 2006.

From July onwards, Belarus said it would pay for gas deliveries on a monthly basis at the new price.

Belarus is seeking to borrow up to $1.5 billion from Russia to help its economy withstand the higher gas prices.

Source:

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070822/3/36rqj.html