English

Belarus looking for new gas supply sources

Russia’s Gazprom on Wednesday reduced the daily amount of gas deliveries to Belarus by 60 percent, stepping up pressure on Minsk amid a bitter dispute that threatens to affect gas consumers outside the two countries, BelaPAN reports.

The state-controlled gas monopoly had pledged to cut gas deliveries to Belarus every day unless it settled its $192-million debt and reduced the flow of gas to the country by 15 percent on June 21 and by 30 percent on June 22.

“A 60-percent reduction in gas deliveries is introduced at 10 a.m.,” RIA Novosti quoted Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller as saying on June 23.

The gas debt row took a new twist after Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced on Tuesday that he had ordered the transit flow of Russian gas through Belarus halted.

Mr. Lukashenka explained that Gazprom owed Belarus $260 million in outstanding gas transit fees. "They have not paid us a single kopeck over these six months. What kind of cynicism and absurdity it is when you owe me $260 million and I owe you $190 million and you start shutting down the pipeline," he noted.

Mr. Lukashenka revealed that he had borrowed from his "friends" to repay Belarus' debt for Russian natural gas.

"We’ll give you the money soon," Mr. Lukashenka said while meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Minsk on Tuesday.

"It's sad that we had to borrow the money from strangers – they gave it to us within one day – while Russia couldn't wait for two weeks."

Belarus has run up the debt by continuing to pay at last year's price of $150 for 1000 cubic meters of gas. Gazprom says that Belarus is to pay $185 for 1000 cubic meters in the second quarter of this year and the price is to be further raised in July.

Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament, said on June 22 that the European Union did not intend to interfere in the gas dispute between Belarus and Russia. "We do not interfere in relations between two countries, that is up to Russia and Belarus to deal with,” he said. Mr. Buzek expressed hope that the dispute would not affect gas deliveries to Europe.

The current gas row between Belarus and Russia prompts the former to look for alternative gas supply sources, Belarusian Energy Minister Alyaksandr Azyarets said at a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart, Arvidas Sekmokas, in Vilnius on June 22.

He said that Belarus was interested in importing liquefied gas from a storage facility expected to be built in Lithuania, the Delfi news website said.

Belarus is “fully” dependent on Russian gas supplies at present, with 95 percent of the country’s electricity generated by gas-fired power plants, according to the minister. “That’s why we want to diversify energy sources and reduce dependence on Russian gas just like you do,” Mr. Azyarets was quoted as saying.

The Belarusian minister studied in detail Lithuania’s plans to build the liquefied gas import terminal and said that Belarus could be involved in the project.