Energy Minister Uladzimir Patupchyk and Deputy Prime Minister Uladzimir Syamashka have left for Moscow to take part in the negotiations on gas costs for Belarus. It is still unknown who is representing the Russian side at the talks.
Russian gas is being pumped into our country’s underground storage facilities ‘according to schedule’, Leanid Shenets, the first deputy head of the Energy Ministry, said. 19.3 bn cubic meters of Russian gas will be delivered under the contract, the official stated.
Belarus and Russia have been unable to agree on gas price. Belarus wants to buy it at the price of $73 per thousand cubic meters. Current price of the Russian gas for our country is $132. According to the Russian Energy Ministry, Belarus gas debt has reached $270-300 mln. In turn, Minsk fails to acknowledge the debt.
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Amid the gas row, Russia cut oil supplies to Belarus: In Q4 2016 Moscow will supply Minsk with only 3 mln tons of oil. Thus, by the end of the year our country will receive 18 mln tons instead of desired 24 mln. In response, Belarus raised duties on oil and oil products exported outside the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Community (EEC), i.e. on transit of Russian oil trough its territory. The Russian company “Transneft” refused to sign a supplementary agreement on the new tariff. Moreover, Belarus’ actions may lead to litigation, a representative of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service said.
The trade war on gas prices has been in progress since the beginning of the year. All previous attempts to resolve the conflict turned futile.
belsat.eu following ria.ru
