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Russiaâ€™s Gazprom May Cut Off Belarusâ€™s Gas Supply

21 June 2010 08:49 (UTC +04:00)

Gazprom announced that the government of Belarus must repay all of the gas debt by the 21st of June, this coming Monday or else, iNEWP- Freedom of Speech reported.

The percentage of the gas supplies being slashed is proportional to Belarusâ€™s debt. The CEO of Gazprom, Alexei Miller stated in the annual SPIEF meeting (St. Petersburg International Economic Forum) that his company will â€œcut 85%â€ of the gas deliveries to Belarus but will allow â€œthe remaining 15% to Belarus in order for the country to maintain its gas transport systemâ€ until the country can repay the debt.

Explaining the situation to Russiaâ€™s President Medvedev, Miller said â€œWe have well-grounded reason to cut supplies if Belarus does not cuts its debtâ€ according to Gazpromâ€™s contract with the Belarusian government.

Of course, since Gazprom was originally a government ministry (the Soviet Ministry of Gas Industry) and the Russian government currently has certain investment in Gazprom, President Medvedev gave additional, stern warnings to Belarus.

However, Belarus contests the Russian price of natural gas and has refused to pay the 169 USD per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of the year since the contract was signed on January 1st. Instead the government has only paid 150 USD, $19 below from the decided price in the first quarter and $35 below from the price in the second quarter.

In response to Gazpromâ€™s announcement, the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that â€œrelations between countries and nations are not measured by cubic meters of gasâ€, meaning there wonâ€™t be any hostile movement towards Russia politically or economically due to this gassy situation unlike

President Lukashenko, to the approval of many in Moscow, said â€œIt is necessary to reformat our relations and make them more pragmatic.â€