BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/12/2006

Gazprom warns gas export may be interrupted to Belarus on Jan 1

MOSCOW, December 28. KAZINFORM - Gazprom has warned gas export may be cut to Belarus starting from January 1, if a gas contract is not signed.

"If Gazprom does not sign a contract with Minsk, we will have no grounds for supplying gas to Belarus from 10:00 Moscow time on January 1," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told the Vesti TV Channel on Wednesday.

Gazprom has already sent its partners in Lithuania, Poland and Germany notifications on possible troubles in gas transit via Belarus starting from January 1, 2007, he said.

"But Gazprom will supply gas to its European consumers to the border with Belarus in full volume and in compliance with the effective contracts," he said.

Miller pointed out that the Wednesday negotiations on gas export with Belarus yielded no results.

"The lack of a gas export duty for Belarus raises questions. As a result of this, Russia's budget loses 1.3 billion U.S. dollars a year. Today Gazprom plans to address the Russian authorities on this issue," he said, KAZINFORM cites Itar-Tass.

Source:

http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=147351