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Tensions simmer in Russia-Belarus gas stand-off
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 21 - 06 - 2010

Belarus and Russia remained locked in a
dispute Monday over delinquent Belarussian payments for Russian gas,
with a near total shut-down of gas to its western neighbour still a
possibility, according to dpa.
At certain times during the day, it seemed the two had struck a
conciliatory mood, with Belarus offering to repay its debts within
two weeks and Russia announcing a cutback of only 15 per cent of its
gas deliveries, instead of the 85-per-cent cutoff previously
threatened.
But tensions remained, especially after Russian gas officials said
two weeks would be too long to wait for payment.
"No one will wait two weeks. The next discussion of the situation
will take place at a meeting of the emergency headquarters of Gazprom
on June 22 at 10:00 Moscow time (0600 GMT)," Gazprom spokesman Sergei
Kupriyanov told the Tass news agency.
The threat of an 85-per-cent shut-off - which would leave just
enough to maintain pressure in Russian pipelines running through
Belarus - has spread fear in Belarus and beyond, although EU
officials said Monday they did not anticipate any delivery problems
due to the tensions between the two former Soviet republics.
However, gas prices surged on European markets as some traders
feared the worst. A similar dispute with Ukraine in 2009 led Russia
to cut off gas supplies in the middle of winter, sharply cutting
supplies across Eastern Europe.
Officials on both sides seemed on Monday to try to ease some of
the tension.
Vladimir Semashko, Belarus' first deputy premier, told
journalists that Minsk was in a difficult situation regarding hard
currency.
"We may not pay up today, but I think that in two weeks we'll find
the possibility. We'll borrow (and) we'll settle up."
Semashko said Belarus needed to pay for gas and Russia for transit
fees.
Russian Premier Vladimir Putin said Russia, for the time being,
would reduce the delivery of gas to Belarus by no more than 15 per
cent.
"By contract, we are absolutely justified, strictly speaking, in
reducing deliveries by 85 per cent or more, but we won't do that
because of the special relationship with Belorussian consumers,"
Putin said.
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom had earlier said it would gradually
increase the cut-off to 85 per cent in response to what Moscow says
is a debt of 192 million dollars for previous deliveries. Gazprom
reported beginning the reduction of gas at 0600 GMT Monday.
In addition to the payment of 192 million dollars due, Minsk faces
a bill on June 25 of 270 million dollars, Russian Deputy Premier Igor
Sechin was quoted as saying by Tass.
Sechin said that over the past three months, the Belorussian gas
transit company Beltransgaz "systematically underpaid for delivery of
Russian gas."
Semashko said that Minsk was continuing negotiations with Moscow
and that it planned to sign an agreement.
"If they pay us 217 million dollars for transit, we're prepared to
pay 187 million dollars of our debt for gas," Semashko said.
Ukraine said earlier Monday that it was ready to increase delivery
of gas through its pipelines to Western Europe, as Gazprom chief
Alexei Miller disclosed that Russian President Dmitry Medevedev had
given instructions to start cutting the gas.
Putin said that Russia's retreat on the planned cut-off of gas was
made in order "to give our Belorussian colleagues the chance to
respond and increase the level of financial discipline."
Russia is the biggest supplier of gas to Germany, with a share of
37 per cent. Austria gets half of its gas from Russia, while the
shares for Bulgaria and Hungary are 95 per cent and 90 per cent,
respectively.
Some 80 per cent of Russian gas to Germany is delivered via
Ukraine, while a fifth is delivered through pipelines in Belarus.
Last week Gazprom had announced its aim to reduce by 85 per cent
its gas deliveries to Belarus, with Minsk then threatening over the
weekend to tap into the transit pipelines transporting gas to western
Europe.
Gazprom said that if Belarus took such action, the company would
pump its gas via Ukraine into Poland, circumventing Belarus. Gazprom
would meet its delivery commitments to the West, Miller said.
The fight is seen by some analysts as a political game of chicken,
seeing as how Belarus relies on Russia for so much political and
financial support.


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