Report: Russian gas price for Belarus at $129 in 2018 – official

MINSK, Apr 17 (PRIME) -- The price of Russian gas for Minsk will amount to U.S. $129 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2018, Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko told channel Belarus 1 in an interview broadcast on April 16.

“I can announce today already… it will be $129 (per 1,000 cubic meters) in 2018 regardless of the oil and gas price situation,” Semashko said.

He also said that had the Russia–Belarus negotiations not taken place, the price of gas for Belarus would be about $150 in 2018.

Russia and Belarus also agreed on a $127 gas price in 2019, he added.

Semashko also said that supplies of Russian oil will increase from Tuesday. “The main thing (in the Russia–Belarus agreements) is the recovery of an oil supply amount. An increased amount of oil supplies will start from Tuesday in accordance with the balance which already envisages (supplies to Belarus) of 24 million tonnes of oil annually through 2024,” he said.

In early 2016, Minsk said that Russian prices for gas are unfair and started paying less for it unilaterally. Moscow cut duty-free oil supplies to Belarus saying there were shortfalls in duty-free oil product shipments to Russia, which Minsk was to carry out in return for the oil.

Semashko said earlier that Minsk had agreed with Moscow on resumption of oil supplies in the previous volume of 24 million tonnes annually until 2024. Belarus fully redeemed its $726.2 million debt to Gazprom and agreed to pay $130 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2017, according to President Alexander Lukashenko.

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