Gazprom cuts Belarus gas supply by 30% as emergency talks fail

摘要

Russia has increased gas supply reductions to Belarus to 30% on Tuesday, having initiated a 15% gas supply cut on Monday, in a bid to pressurise the beleaguered country into paying its $192 million debt.“A decision on whether further cuts will be imposed will be made tomorrow morning,” a Gazprom spokesperson told Gas Matters Today, adding the Belarusian delegation, which includes the director general of Beltransgaz, Vladimir Mayorov, had now returned to Minsk and all negotiations had ceased. The spokesman said discussions had ended because the Belarusians could not offer “any constructive proposals” for paying the debt.Gas supplies will be cut "day-by-day, proportionally to the debt's volume", Alexei Miller, Gazprom's chief executive, was quoted as saying by Russian newswire Ria Novosti (see Gas Matters Today, June 21). The company may cut supplies by up to 85%, depending on “how constructive talks are,” Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov warned.Around 20% of Russia’s Europe-bound gas exports transit Belarus, but the spokesman assured that no European supplies had so far been affected by the cuts, and that Gazprom was monitoring the situation closely. “Ukraine is ready to help if more gas needs to be sent to Europe,” he added.The former Soviet republic has reportedly racked up around $192 million in debt this year by continuing to pay for its 2010 gas supplies at 2009 gas prices (see Gas Matters Today, June 16). Gazprom said that Belarus has been paying $150/Mcm for gas, instead of the $169.2/Mcm that the Russian gas major charged in Q1 2010 and $184.8/Mcm in Q2. The level of debt could increase to $600 million by the end of the year if Belarus continues to pay for gas at only $150/Mcm, Kupriyanov said at the end of May. – LE