Gazprom offered Belarus gas at USD 165

On the negotiation on 5 December OAO Gazprom offered Belarus to buy gas at price of USD 165 per 1.000 cubic meters in 2008, Interfax learnt from a Belarusian source close to the negotiation. According to it, price of USD 119.5 per 1.000 cubic meters was offered by Belarusian side in the course of negotiation. The source also told that the carried on 5 December negotiations yielded no result.

It should be reminded that on 31 December, 2006 OAO Gazprom and OAO Beltransgaz signed the gas supply and transit contract for 2007–2011. The document identified the price of Russian gas for 2007 – USD 100 per 1,000 cubic meters, and the pricing formula starting from 1 January, 2008 (which is in line with the Russian gas supply pricing formula for Europe). As it was agreed gas delivery price to Belarus will comprise 67 per cent of the average European gas price, it is no less than USD 160 per 1.000 cubic meters.

But U. Syamashka said earlier that Belarus expected the gas price in 2008 to be as low as USD 119.5 per 1.000 cubic meters.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka set a task to preserve the current price of USD 100 per 1.000 cubic meters.

There is no information about what terms are proposed by the Belarusian side to Gazprom for this price.