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Russia pays Belarus for Europe gas transit

24 June 2010 13:15 (UTC +04:00)

The payment falls short of the $260 million demanded by Belarus for transit fees, but Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller reported to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the company had cleared its debts to Belarus, Medvedev’s press secretary said in a news release.

Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the payment resolved the issue.

"There are no problems that could hamper gas supplies or transit," Kupriyanov told the news agency.

The spokeswoman for the Belarus Energy Ministry, Lyudmila Zenkovich, told CNN, however, that her ministry didn’t have official confirmation that the money transfer had reached Belarus.

Gazprom said this week that Belarus was behind on its payments for natural gas and the company reduced the amount of gas it supplied to the former Soviet republic by a total of 60 percent.

Belarus then threatened to cut the delivery of gas going through its pipelines to Europe to make up for the losses it was suffering. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said Gazprom also owed it money for transporting the Russian gas to Europe.

Wednesday, Belarus said it had cleared its debt with Gazprom, and Miller confirmed that Thursday. Gazprom also resumed full gas deliveries to Belarus, Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalya Timakova, told RIA-Novosti.

If unresolved, the payment dispute could have threatened Europe’s energy supplies.