Gas in exchange for Beltransgaz

Belarus will pay $164 $165,6 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas in the first quarter of 2012.

“Belarus will pay $164 $165,6 per 1,000 cubic metres in the first quarter of the next year, while the estimated average price for European consumers will be $400 per 1,000 cubic metres,” Russian PM Vladimir Putin said Friday at a government meeting, Interfax news agency reports.

“Belarus will get the so called integration discount. It is expected to move to market prices during the next few years by 2014,” Putin said.

According to Putin, Belarus will have a significant discount, which will bring the country’s economy at least $2 billion.

“We have agreed that Russian Gazprom acquires 100% shares in Beltransgaz, Belarus’s gas transportation system. It is a big issue that will settle our relations with Belarus for future years and allow providing reliable transit of our energy resources to consumers in Western Europe,” Putin said.

Putin noted an intergovernmental agreement and other necessary documents on Russian gas supplies to Belarus would be signed on Friday.