Price for Russian natural gas for Belarus to go down

The price for Russian natural gas for Belarus will go down from $168 to $154-155 per 1,000m3, BelTA learned from Ambassador of Russia to Belarus Alexander Surikov on 17 December.

“A new contract is being signed now. We can expect the price for gas to go down from $168 to $154-155,” stated the Ambassador.

Earlier BelTA quoted First Vice Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko as saying that the contract on Russian natural gas deliveries to Belarus that they were about to sign did not much differ from the existing one, which will expire on 31 December 2014. “We will use the same pricing formula. Since the exchange rate of the Russian ruble has gone down, Belarus will pay slightly less for natural gas as from 1 January. Today the price is close to $168 per 1,000m3. The price will be about $154-155,” explained the official then.

Speaking about the volume of natural gas deliveries, Vladimir Semashko said that Belarus will get as much natural gas as it needs. “About 22 billion m3 of natural gas per annum. We sometimes use less than that. The contract allows Belarus to use up to 5% more or 10% less than the target,” he said.