Gazprom: It is not feasible to reduce gas price for Belarus
Gazprom deems it not feasible to lower the price of natural gas for Belarus. Gazprom's Chairman of the Board Valery Golubev told the Russian news agency ria.ru that they currently sell gas to Belarusians at the price of production cost plus transportation costs.
Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kabyakou said earlier that Russian gas should cost $80 per 1000 cubic meters instead of $142 currently.
Gazprom's representative noted that there are various formulas to calculate the price of natural gas. "There are formulas tied to the crude oil coefficients. But Belarus chose its own way. They wanted - like in Russia - to have the price based on the production cost plus transportation costs. But today the Belarusan counterparts say: no, we want it differently. Yet, they should be consistent," Golubev noted.
As of today, the price of gas for Belarus is $132 per 1000 cubic meters, he said. Responding to a question on whether concessions to Belarus regarding the price are possible, Golubev noted there is an intergovernmental agreement, which sets the formula to culculate the price of Russian natural gas deliviers to Belarus.
