Russia reduced its gas supplies to Belarus by 30 percent. As Gazprom's press service reported
Published:
13 February 2004 y., Friday
Beginning 10:00 a.m. Moscow time today, Russia reduced its gas supplies to Belarus by 30 percent. As Gazprom's press service reported, the holding recommends Belarus to urgently sign and submit to the company a prolonged contracts with independent gas suppliers, i.e. Itera and Transnafta. Otherwise, gas supplies will be stopped altogether, Gazprom's release says.
Itera and Transnafta informed Gazprom today that the gas supplies agreed on with the Belarusian gas transportation company Beltransgaz for January and February 2004, had been used. Belarus has not signed new contracts as yet.
As Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Ryazanov stated, talks on gas supplies to Belarus and its transit via its territory "are stuck". According to him, Belarus keeps insisting on a non-market price of supplies that is below the prime cost. He stressed that the Belarusian government also turned down Russia's initiative to release a credit to Belarus for compensating for the difference in prices.
Gazprom also pointed out that Beltransgaz violated an agreement on restructuring its debt to Gazprom signed in December 2003. But to date, Belarus owes $6bn in arrears, the release says. Independent gas suppliers are in a similar position. They have also faced the problem of non-payments. Russian gas is transited via Belarus to the Kalinigrad region, the Baltic countries, Poland, and Germany. "Gazprom is ready to sign a transit agreement but Belarus is not. It is trying to use the fact that there is no agreement at the negotiations," Ryazanov pointed out.
Šaltinis:
RBC
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The European Parliament's proposal for its own operational budget for 2011 includes the financing of measures in preparation for enlargement with Croatia.
more »
Links between business and the academic world need to be strengthened but higher education institutions must retain their autonomy and public support, says a resolution adopted on Thursday by the European Parliament.
more »
The Spanish Minister of Economy and Finance, Elena Salgado, will present the additional fiscal tightening measures set out by the Spanish Government to her eurozone (Eurogroup) counterparts on Monday; the measures were required by Spain’s European partners as a condition of approving the plan to bolster the euro on 9 May.
more »
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation under EU State aid rules into capital injections destined to two subsidiaries of state owned company Elan Skupina in Slovenia.
more »
GDP growth in the EU expected to gradually pick up, though recovery less robust than past upturns.
more »
The EESC tabled its opinion on the regulation of alternative investment funds, such as hedge funds and private funds. Although endorsing the much debated proposal of the European Commission, the EESC calls for uniform risk data provision for all such funds and emphasizes their responsibility in triggering the crisis.
more »
Concluding the process and deciding on the schedule for releasing the funds agreed on for Greece, as well as examining and learning lessons from the crisis for the governance of the eurozone, will be the focus of the discussions of the heads of state and government at the meeting in Brussels this Friday.
more »
The EU pavilion at the world expo in Shanghai marks the first time the EU has presented itself to a large Chinese audience.
more »
Shanghai's World Expo offers visitors plenty of fun offering bizarre things to do at over 200 pavillions competing for attention.
more »
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a loan of EUR 150 million to MVM Zrt. for the capacity increase and the extension of a high-voltage transmission network, partly constituting priority axes of the Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E) in Hungary.
more »