English

Gazprom confirms that Belarus owes nothing to it

Gazprom confirmed to BelaPAN on Friday that AAT Beltranshaz, Belarus’ government-controlled gas supply company, owed nothing to it. The press office of the Russian natural gas monopolist refused to disclose how much Beltranshaz paid to Gazprom and when.

Beltranshaz spokesman Uladzimir Chekaw told BelaPAN on July 24 that Belarus owed nothing to Gazprom. He also refused to elaborate, citing “commercial secrecy.” “If there’s no indebtedness, there’re no debts at all,” he said.

On July 16, Aleksandr Ananenkov, deputy chairman of the Gazprom board, threatened that Gazprom might take legal action if Belarus kept failing to pay for gas supplies in full.

Belarusian First Deputy Energy Minister Eduard Tawpyanets said on the same day that this threat should be viewed as part of a negotiating process between a gas supplier and a customer.

“Each party pursues its own interest,” he said. “Our goal is to negotiate the lowest possible gas price for our country. As long as we have some arguments, we’ll use them.”

The argument that Belarus has is the cost of transit via the country, Mr. Tawpyanets said. “We believe that if the price of gas rises, so do the pumping costs and the price of transit,” but an “additional transit agreement still remains unsigned,” he added.

Gazprom raised the gas price for Belarus from $119 per 1000 cubic meters in the first quarter of the year to $128 in the second quarter, but, according to Russian sources, Belarus continued to pay at $119, accumulating a debt of an estimated $45 million.

Mr. Tawpyanets confirmed in late June that Belarus continued paying at the old price. He said that the Beltranshaz supervisory board “decided” on March 31 that Belarus should pay for Russian gas in the second quarter at the price of the first quarter.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, who chairs the Gazprom board, told reporters on July 24 that in October, Gazprom would make decisions regarding relations with Belarus and Ukraine.
In a five-year contract, signed with the Russian natural gas monopolist on December 31, 2006, Beltranshaz pledged to pay 67 percent of the European market level in 2008, excluding delivery costs. The price was to gradually increase to the European market level by 2011. It was to be 80 percent in 2009, 90 percent in 2010, and 100 percent in 2011.

Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in early July that the average price paid by Gazprom's European customers might exceed $500 per 1000 cubic meters by the end of the year.