BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/08/2007

EC ready to call gas group meeting over Belarus-RF crisis

BRUSSELS, August 3 (Itar-Tass) - The European Commission is ready to call next week a meeting of the coordinating group for gas over the crisis in the natural gas supply sphere between Belarus and Russia, it is said in an official statement of the European Commission spokesman placed on its website on Thursday.

The coordinating group meeting participants are to analyse the state of gas supplies to the EU in the context of the Russian-Belarussian crisis. The European coordinating group comprises representatives of governments and energy companies of 27 EU member states, as well as European officials. Its extraordinary sessions are held when a threat to the EU energy security emerges, in particular, over risks of reduction of energy supplies to Europe.

The European Commission has urged Russia and Belarus to find a solution to the current problem as soon as possible without resorting to tough measures and with full observance of contract obligations so that natural gas supplies to Europe are not affected either directly or indirectly.

The European Commission also said that it is maintaining permanent contacts with the EU member states, the EU Council, Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom and the Belarussian authorities. At the same time the European Commission has not commented on the statement of Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on Belarus' readiness to pay Russia 460 million US dollars for the supplied gas.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11766658&PageNum=0