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Russia, Belarus to sign new gas contract in December

01 September 2011 23:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russia’s gas giant Gazprom on Tuesday said it will finish negotiations with Belarus on a new gas deal for 2012-2014 in early December, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

According to the company’s press service, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller had met with Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko in Gazprom’s central office in Moscow.

"Under the agreements reached in July, the parties resumed the talks on the supply and transit of Russia’s natural gas... It is planned to finish the talks and sign a new contract on gas transit and supplies in early December, 2011," the press service said.

The four-year contract between Russia and Belarus is going to expire on Dec. 31. For months, the two sides have been negotiating a new agreement based on a market price formula.

Gazprom has been seeking an interlink between the new contract with the finalization of Gazprom’s purchase of a 50-percent stake in Belarus state gas company Beltransgaz.

Currently, Belarus pays for natural gas at a considerable discount to European gas prices.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has repeatedly mentioned that the new gas discount size will be tied with Gazprom’s purchase of Beltransgaz.

Gazprom has already owned a 50-percent stake in Beltransgaz.