Three-year contract on Russian natural gas deliveries to Belarus signed

A contract has been signed to determine the terms of Russian natural gas deliveries to Belarus for the next three years, BelTA learned from representatives of OAO Gazprom Transgaz Belarus.

Details of the contract have yet to be specified. Earlier BelTA quoted First Vice Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko as saying that the document they were about to sign did not differ from the existing one by a lot. “We will use the same pricing formula. Since the exchange rate of the Russian ruble has dropped, 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.

The existing three-year contract on Gazprom’s natural gas deliveries to Belarus will expire on 31 December 2014.

It is possible that the sides have also signed the contract on gas transportation via Belarus in the next three years.