Belarus plans to settle its gas debt with Russia within two weeks

21 June, Minsk /Vladimir Vasilkov - BELTA/. Belarus plans to settle its gas debt with Russia within two weeks. This was announced to journalists today by First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. At the same time, the Belarusian side has put forward a counter-demand to the Russians: to pay off the debt for gas transit amounting to $217 million. Vladimir Semashko noted that the negotiation process on gas issues with the Russian side is moving in the right direction. He emphasized that a certain compromise is maturing in the negotiations with "Gazprom". "Firstly, we were threatened with an 85% supply cut. But today, the restriction is only 15%. This is already manageable and we can think about how to compensate," said the official. The First Deputy Prime Minister also reported that as a result of the negotiations, "a certain protocol has emerged, which we cannot agree to in its current form. But it is important that the Russian side has acknowledged that it owes the Belarusian side $217 million for transit". "Thus, if the Russians pay us $217 million for transit, we are ready to pay $187 million for gas," explained Vladimir Semashko, clarifying that who pays first is not critical. "We do not hide that Belarus has difficulties with foreign currency. And in order to enter real-time payment mode, we need to borrow currency," noted the First Deputy Prime Minister. "We will pay. Maybe not today, maybe within two weeks we will find an opportunity, borrow, but we will pay. And they will pay for transit." Vladimir Semashko added that the Belarusian side "will not leave the negotiations, we will insist, persuade our colleagues, and seek a compromise."

The First Deputy Prime Minister recalled that in 2006, when the gas supply contract was concluded, both sides proceeded from the understanding that it was necessary to reach the principle of equally profitable prices. "This means that the profit embedded in the sale of gas to Germany, Poland, Belarus, and within Russia itself should be the same," explained Vladimir Semashko. "We understood the position of the Russian government. The problem was that in Russia, until recently, the sale of gas was unprofitable, Gazprom sold gas within Russia at unprofitable prices, so it was necessary to raise prices. And we, understanding our colleagues, agreed to a synchronized price increase. But this was in 2006, and there were assurances, and there were certain documents that spoke of our solidarity. But three years have passed, and we see that the trajectory indicated by the Russian government, the real trajectory of movement towards equally profitable prices, is much lower than the one set. And we see that Russia will not reach equally profitable prices by January 1, 2011. We already see official statements at the level of ministers of the Russian Federation that they plan to reach equally profitable prices by 2015." "If so, then we say: these are force majeure circumstances. We say that we need prices comparable to Russian ones," concluded Vladimir Semashko. -0-

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