Sechin threatens to sue Belarusian government for gas debts

The issue of indebtedness of Belarus for Russian gas deliveries should be solved within a legal framework, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said to journalists.

"It should be done within the legal framework," Interfax quotes the high-ranking Russian official.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister underlined that Gazprom is interested in recieving the indebted money. He added that Gazprom should decide whether control of Beltransgaz interests it in discharge of indebtedness. However, Igor Sechin noted that to his mind, to buy a company with indebtedness is economically not viable.

For a second year Belarus pays Gazprom $150 per 1,000 cubic metres, despite of the fact thta under the contract the gas price has increased up to $169 cubic metres as of today. The average annual price is expected to reaCH $180-186 per 1,000 cubic metres. Today the debt of Belarus for gas deliveries is $192 million. If the situation is no tresolves, by the end of the year the indebtedness can reach $500-600 mln.

In 2010 Gazprom delivers gas to Belarus with a coefficient of 0.9 to an equal price, while the Belarusian side many times stated that it has an intention to reach an agreement to use 0.75 coefficient this year.