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Beltransgaz, the Belarusian state-run gas company, and Russia’s SIBUR (Siberian-Ural Petrochemical and Gas Company) have signed an agreement on natural gas supplies to Belarus in 2004 in the amount of 1bn cubic meters of gas, SIBUR said. According to the agreement, SIBUR will supply 200m cubic meters of gas to Belarus in March 2004. SIBUR officials did not specify the price to be paid for the supplies. About 90 percent of SIBUR shares is controlled by Gazprom, Russia’s gas giant. Terms of gas transportation have been agreed to with Gazprom, SIBUR officials say.
Belarus currently receives natural gas from another Russian company, Trans Nafta. In early March, the company signed an agreement with Beltransgaz to deliver 204m cubic meters of gas to the Republic of Belarus at the old price of $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters. Belarus owes Trans Nafta $39m for gas supplies in February 2004, and $4.9m for gas supplies in March 2004.
On Wednesday, the Itera Russian gas company said it was ready to resume natural gas supplies to Belarus at $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters. In March, the company will supply 520m cubic meters of natural gas to Belarus, out of 7.5bn cubic meters of gas envisaged in Itera’s contract with Belarus’ Beltransgas for 2004.
Itera stopped its gas deliveries to the republic on February 12, 2004. Gazprom stopped its supplies even earlier – on January 1, 2004. Gazprom officials expressed doubt that Belarus would manage to sign a long term contract with any gas company. “Belarus can regularly extend contracts with independent gas producers. But, according to our information, neither Trans Nafta nor Itera has sufficient gas resources to satisfy the needs of the republic,” said Alexander Ryazanov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Gazprom.
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RUSSIA IN FACTS
