Russia’s energy giant Gazprom considers it inexpedient to cut its gas prices for Belarus.
“We have a very simple formula with Belarus. We take the production price in the northern Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area and add the transportation price, nothing more, and this formula has been agreed on. Why should we now sell gas to Belarus at lower prices than in Russia?” Valery Golubev, the deputy chairman of Gazprom’s management committee, told RIA Novosti.
There are different pricing formula for gas, for example, the one based on oil ratios but it was Belarus who insisted on the formula currently used to determine the price for Russian gas, the Russian top official stressed.
“But now our Belarusian colleagues say: „We want it to be different!” But we must be consistent,” Golubev said.
At the moment, the gas price for Belarus is $ 132 per thousand cubic meters.
Answering the question whether some concession might be made to Belarus, Golubev referred to the inter-governmental agreement, which determines the price formula for Russia’s gas supplies:
“We signed a contract with Armenia for $150 [per thousand cubic meters]. Armenia is also a union state, but it is a little farther [from Russia] than Belarus, so the price is a little higher for them. For Kyrgyzstan, the price is also $ 150, it is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union as well. Thus, they also might demand [price revision]. And who will be compensating our own expenses?!”
Earlier in April, Belarus Prime Minister Andrey Kabyakou said the price of Russian gas for Belarus should stand at $80 per thousand cubic meters. According to him, such price would be fair as Belarus paid $165 per thousand cubic meters in 2014, when one U.S. dollar cost 32-33 Russian rubles. By now, the Russian ruble has crashed to more than 60 per dollar.
