BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/11/2007

Belarus expects to pay less than $120 for '08 gas

MINSK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Belarus expects to pay no more than $119.5 per 1,000 cubic metres of Russian gas next year compared to $100 now, state-run news agency BelTA quoted a deputy prime minister as saying on Thursday.

"We expect the price of Russian gas to Belarus to be $119.5 per 1,000 cubic metres... As talks go on, it is possible that this price could be lowered by $7 to $8," First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko was quoted as saying.

Ex-Soviet Belarus and Ukraine are both in difficult talks with Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), which on Tuesday said it had agreed to pay $130-150 per tcm for gas it is to buy from Turkmenistan next year against $100 now.

Analysts have said that the surprise increase -- Gazprom's previous agreement with Turkeminstan was due to last to 2009 -- is bound to be passed on to some Gazprom client countries.

Gas price negotiations have led to disputes before between both Belarus and Ukraine and Moscow.

Last year, Gazprom threatened to cut supplies to Belarus as talks stalled but Belarus eventually agreed for the price to be doubled as of the beginning of this year.

In January 2006, Gazprom cut supplies briefly to Ukraine, transit country for most of Russian gas to Europe. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; writing by Sabina Zawadzki)

Source:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL2988572520071129