BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/12/2006

Belarus delegation flies to Moscow to sign gas contract

MINSK, December 29 (RIA Novosti) - A delegation of the Belarusian Energy Ministry will fly to Moscow at 3:00 p.m. Moscow time (1:00 p.m. GMT) to sign a natural gas contract with Russia, an aide of the energy minister said Friday.

Russia and Belarus are currently involved in complex negotiations over the 2007 gas price for Minsk, which has been paying a discounted rate until now. The dispute is reminiscent of a gas spat with Ukraine early this year, when Russia briefly suspended gas supplies, affecting consumers in Europe.

"We have only one purpose - to sign a contract with [Russian energy giant] Gazprom. I hope we will sign the contract by the New Year," Andrei Zhukov said.

A source in the government-owned pipeline company Beltransgaz told RIA Novosti that part of the delegation is already holding talks in Moscow.

First Deputy Energy Minister Eduard Tovpenets is expected to replace Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko as the head of the Belarusian delegation.

Gazprom's official spokesman, Sergei Kupriyanov, said earlier Friday that the company also hopes an agreement can be reached by a January 1, 2007 deadline.

"The talks are continuing in a tense atmosphere, but there is still a chance to reach a timely agreement," Sergei Kupriyanov said, adding that Russia and Belarus have stayed in permanent contact on the issue.

In the ongoing dispute between the ex-Soviet neighbors, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Wednesday the state-controlled Russian natural gas monopoly will cutoff supplies to Belarus January 1, 2007 if no new agreement is signed by that time.

A source in Gazprom said the company does not intend to change the Gazprom-proposed contract terms on gas supplies to Belarus.

Gazprom has proposed that Belarus pay $75 per 1,000 cubic meters in cash, plus $30 in shares of the Belarusian government-owned pipeline company Beltransgaz.

Belarus said it was only ready to pay $75 in cash and, being a transit country, would not suffer gas shortages while abiding by the 2006 price of $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters until the new contract was signed.

Russia responded to the assertion by saying that it represented an open declaration of intent to siphon off Europe-bound gas.

Belarus, which is building a Union State with Russia, currently pays a discounted rate of $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters and charges Russia a transit rate of $0.75 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20061229/58092697.html