Russia is not to allow Belarus to get cheaper gas from Turkmenistan, is it? :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarus is negotiating with Turkmenistan the medium –term perspective deliveries of Turkmen natural gas to Belarus. That was reported by deputy chairman of the national Academy of Sciences of Belarus Uladzimir Tsimashpolsky at the press-conference in Minsk on Thursday. The official’s declaration was commented on by economist of the “Research, Forecasting and Opinions” research center Alyaksandr Chubrik to the Charter’97 press center.

“Decision-making on Turkmen natural gas deliveries to Belarus depends on the relations of Belarus with Gazprom as the might-be gas deliveries are to be conducted over the gas transporting capacities of the Russian monopolist.

The expert considers that Belarus will not be able to get access to the Turkmen gas at the prices different from the Russian ones. “If the set up relations are transparent and open then Russia will not allow Belarus to get cheaper gas from Turkmenistan because it also depends on the commodity”, Alyaksandr Chubrik expresses his viewpoint.

It is to be mentioned that presently the requests for buying Turkmen natural gas exceed its mining volumes. For the gas production efficiency to be raised up to 130 billion cubic meters by 2016, as this volume is required for discharging all the export commitments, annual investments of USD 5 billion will have been demanded for the coming 25 years .However, as the forecasts run, the gas production in Turkmenistan in 2007 is to comprise 65 billion cubic meters.