Russian, Belarusian premiers to discuss gas prices for Belarus :: Charter'97 :: News

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky are expected to meet Tuesday during a session of the Council of Ministers of the Russia-Belarus Union State and to discuss the amounts of Russian natural gas supplies and prices at which it will be supplied.

The meeting will take place in Minsk.

A source in the Russian cabinet said the CEO of OAO Gazprom, Alexei Miller, is bringing to Minsk a contract on gas supplies stipulating the delivery of 20.5 billion cubic meters at 46.68 U.S. dollars per thousand cubic meters.

Of that amount, Gazprom’s own supplies are expected to stand at 18.5 billion cubic meters. Independent suppliers will sell 0.6 billion cubic meters, and another 1.4 billion cubic meters may be sold additionally.

Belarusian government, however, is eyeing somewhat different parameters, the source indicated.

“Belarus proposes to increase supplies to 21.5 billion cubic meters and to scale the price down to 39.56 U.S. dollars per thousand cubic meters,” he said.

“Talks on the contract may be deadlocked, and if we don’t sign it before the New Year, we may eventually face the problem of gas siphoning from major pipelines – a situation that our exporters have run into in Ukraine in the past,” the source said.

“The difference is that Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement ruling out the siphoning, but no one ever made agreements of that kind with Belarus,” he said.

Participants in the meeting will also discuss supplies of crude oil. Russia offers 18.5 million tons a year, but Belarus would like to have greater amounts.

The source said, however, both countries have endorsed the schedules of supplies of coal, electricity, diesel fuel, black oil, gasoline, liquefied gas, and rocket propellant.