BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/12/2006

Outcome of gas negotiations with Belarus is yet unclear - Gazprom

MOSCOW, December 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov has abstained from forecasting a possible outcome of gas negotiations with Belarus.

"Experts are holding the negotiations. It is hard to predict a possible outcome so far," he said on the Vesti news program.

"The negotiations have entered a final phase. A failure of these negotiations will have severe aftereffects for the Belarussian economy," he said.

A delegation of the Belarussian Energy Ministry arrived in Moscow on Friday. Assistant Energy Minister Andrei Zhukov said they would discuss a contract with Gazprom. "I hope it will be signed before the New Year," he added.

Russia has said several times that gas delivery terms for Belarus are set and won't be changed. Gazprom is ready to supply gas to Belarus at a price of $105 per 1,000 cubic meters, including $75 paid in cash and the rest paid with a Gazprom stake in the Belarussian Beltransgaz, Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said.

Kupriyanov added that $105 is the final price and it is more preferential than the one offered to other countries.

Source:

http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11127292&PageNum=0