Lukashenka, Putin Order Officials Solve Gas Prices On Their Own

The dictators believe that gas discrepancies “should not be considered at the top level.”

Vladimir Putin and Aliaksandr Lukashenka have ordered Ministers of Energy of Russia and Belarus to settle the issue of prices formation in the process of gas shipments, without passing the conflicts to the top level. This has been informed by Press Secretary to the Russian President Dmitry Peskov upon the results of the rulers’ negotiations on June 8 in Minsk, BelaPAN news agency reports.

“The Belarusians, naturally, think they should count on a lower price. We believe they don’t have a right to such discount. This is a pure commercial dispute. The significance of this dispute should not be overestimated", — Moskovskii Komsomolets quotes Peskov’s words to the journalists.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Minister of Energy Alexander Novak has stated upon the results of the negotiations that Belarus must pay for the already shipped Russian gas under the acting contract.

“This subject has been raised, and we received an order to continue contacts, bilateral consultations and negotiations. Fundamentally, the parties’ arguments remained the same, but we need to seek compromises. The payment under the existing acting contract should be made firsthand. This is also a subject of discussions and consultations from their side. Thus, I can summarize the negotiations have not been completed and still go on”, — TASS news agency quotes Novak.

The gas dispute and the negotiations on this point have been going on between the two states since January. Minsk insists that the price for the Russian gas should be reduced. Representatives of the Russian government said many times that the reduction of price was unreasonable. Russia claims that the price for the Russian gas for Belarus is calculated on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement, while the transfer to the price definition on the basis of the netback parity at the internal market and abroad, which Belarus insists on, will be possible in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union by 2025.

In early May it became known that “Gasprom Transgas in Belarus” JSC had addressed to the International Arbitrary Court of the Belarusian Chamber of commerce and Industry with a lawsuit against the Belarusian gas supplying organizations "in connection with the unfunded debt from the side of the gas supplying organizations regarding payment for the shipped natural gas.”

According to the information provided by “Gasprom”, Belarus’ debt for the consumed Russian gas is growing and has surpassed USD 200 million since the beginning of the year.

The actual price of the Russian gas shipments for Belarus makes USD 132 per thousand cubic meters. The Belarusian government considers the fair price should be USD 73.