Russia has agreed to cut the 2016 gas price and has outlined a plan of further reductions for the next few years for Belarus, while Minsk agreed to redeem a $300 million debt for past deliveries, government officials said.
“The debt, which has accrued for January gas payments will be redeemed fully until October 20. It amounts to more than $300 million”, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said.
“The current payments which are envisaged by the contract will be made fully even before, this week in fact, so that no new debt is mounting”.
He said that the payment would be done at the current contract price.
Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said: “We must give this money back. But in exchange, we have received a significant one-time gas price reduction already this year and other types of support from Russia. And further on, we have outlined it in a protocol, a price decrease trajectory over the years to come”.
But Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that no price revisions to the contract had been made so far: “I would like to emphasize again that the price for the gas supplied to Belarus remains the same, as calculated under the existing formula, no adjustment is made. It is necessary to repay the debt to restore normal economic relations. I hope the Belarusian partners understand this”.
Medvedev said that he would hold a phone conversation on the gas issue with the Belarusian prime minister later.
Russia and Belarus held negotiations on energy disputes on October 7.
In July Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Belarus owed Russian gas giant Gazprom $270 million. Gazprom said Minsk underpaid the company for gas, while Belarusian Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik said that a fair price would amount to $73 per 1,000 cubic meters instead of $132.77. Minsk did not acknowledge the debt.
The Belarusian antitrust body earlier decided to raise the tariff for transit of Russian oil by 50% on average from October 11. The Russian antitrust body and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft rejected the increase.
Dvorkovich said that Russia would restore the amount of duty-free oil supplies to Belarus to 24 million tons annually, while Belarus would be legally bound to ship one million tons of oil products to Russia. The energy ministries of the two states will adjust the agreement, based on the price and volume of refining at Belarusian plants. (Prime/Business World Magazine)
