26 December 2006
Gazprom says that it has agreed to Belarus' valuation of Beltransgaz
Russian natural gas giant Gazprom has removed all its objections to a deal on next year's supplies to Belarus, Russian media outlets quoted Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller as saying following a round of talks with the Belarusian first deputy prime minister on Tuesday.
Mr. Miller said that Gazprom had agreed to Belarus' valuation of its gas distribution network Beltransgaz at $5 billion despite being convinced that the assets are worth $3.3 billion at most.
He said that Belarus could pay for gas supplies partly with the 50-percent stake in Beltransgaz, noting that such "favorable conditions" had never been created for any other CIS country.
On Monday, Gazprom warned that it would cut off gas supplies to Belarus unless it accepted a four-fold increase in the price by January 1. //BelaPAN
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