Moscow announces sum of Belarus’ gas debt

У Маскве назвалі суму доўга Беларусі за пастаўлены расійскі газ

Moscow has announced the sum of Belarus’ gas debt. It has reached almost $600m, Russian vice PM Arkadi Dvorkovich said. Russia is waiting for the debt to be paid, ria.ru reports.

 

Belarus-Russia gas negotiations are complicated, Dvorkovich claimed earlier. There are still ‘discrepancies’, he noted.

 

Belarus and Russia are close to reaching an agreement on gas supplies, Belarusian vice PM Uladzimir Syamashka announced last week. The decision has already been made and only needs to be politically approved now, Minister of Energy Uladzimir Patupchyk noted.

Minsk thinks that the price for Russian gas is unfair. Belarus started underpaying for gas last year hoping that Russians would make concessions. However, Moscow has not done it and has even reduced oil supplies to Belarus.