Gazprom hopes to sign gas supplies deal with Belarus later Sunday - RIA Novosti

Gazprom hopes to sign gas supplies deal with Belarus later Sunday

14:34 | 31/ 12/ 2006

MOSCOW, December 31 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom has not yet reached
an agreement on gas deliveries to Belarus in 2007 but hopes to ink the new
contracts before the New Year, a spokesman for Russia's energy giant said
Sunday.

"A Belarusian delegation, headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir
Semashko, is currently conducting negotiations with Gazprom on new gas
supplies terms starting in 2007," Sergei Kupriyanov said in an interview
with Russia's Vesti television.

"We have not yet reached an agreement, but Gazprom is making all possible
efforts to finalize all necessary contracts in the time remaining (before the
New Year's)," the Gazprom official said, adding that Belarus was offered the
most favorable gas delivery terms, compared with other ex-Soviet republics.

-snip-

Belarus gas negotiator flies to Moscow

By Dmitry Zhdannikov
Sun Dec 31, 4:03 AM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarus's top gas negotiator flew into Moscow on
Sunday, raising hopes of a last-minute deal in a pricing dispute that
threatens to disrupt Russian gas supplies to Europe from New Year's Day.

Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom has said it will cut gas supplies to Belarus
from 07:00 GMT on January 1 if no deal is reached, while Minsk said it would
retaliate by halting flows of Russian gas crossing the country bound for
Western Europe.

About 20 percent of Russian gas exports to Europe go through Belarus.
A similar dispute between Gazprom and Ukraine a year ago briefly disrupted
supplies to Europe and raised questions about Moscow's reliability as an
energy supplier.

-snip-

Last Updated: Sunday, 31 December 2006, 21:49 GMT

Russia-Belarus gas deal reached

Russia and Belarus say they have reached a deal on gas supplies
after Moscow threatened to cut them off if a big price rise was
not agreed.

This came after last-ditch talks in Moscow ahead of a deadline.

"A mid-term agreement was reached on gas prices to Belarus and
on transit shipments to Europe," the head of Russia's Gazprom gas
monopoly said.

It had threatened to halt supplies at 1000 (0700GMT) on Monday
unless Belarus more than doubled what it pays for gas.

Belarus had in turn threatened to disrupt Russian gas supplies
to Western Europe if this happened.