Gazprom-Ukraine Conflict Affected Belarus
- 5.03.2008, 14:18
Belarus daily misses USD 140,000 a day because of the gas conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Russian Gazprom has reduced gas deliveries to Ukraine by 50%. In response Ukraine reduced transit gas deliveries to Europe by 60 million cubic metres a day.
Beltransgaz denies comment on the reports about possible losses connected with reduced deliveries of Russian gas to Ukraine. “Until the situation with Ukraine clarifies, we don’t like to comment anything,” a representative of gas transportation enterprise told to BelaPAN.
Meanwhile, on March 3 Interfax agency was informed that revenues of Beltransgaz can drop by USD 140,000 a day because of the conflict between Gazprom and Ukraine. “Since January 1 tariff for gas transit via Beltransgaz network is USD 1.59 per 1,000 cubic metres for 100 km. Since March 3 Gazprom reduced deliveries of gas to Ukraine, and in particular, the deliveries via Belarusian station Mazyr gas-measuring station have been reduced by 16 million cubic metres a day.
The national joint stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy received notification of Russian Gazprom that deliveries of gas to Ukraine would be dropped by 25%. As informed by Gazprom press-service, it is connected with “unsanctioned siphoning off gas” in Ukraine. Gazprom reduced supplies to Ukraine by 50 percent on Tuesday -- after starting with a 25 percent cut the day before -- and threatened further cuts unless a debt of $600 million was settled and a 2008 contract signed.
Gazprom specified that Gazprom will continue to fully execute the export obligations.
But Naftogaz thinks different. In its press release, the company informed that by reducing the gas supplies to Ukraine, Gazprom has violated the key provision of technical cooperation with Naftogaz, i.e. the guarantee of continuous and accident-free transit of Russia’s gas to Europe, which is conditioned to securing the gas balance of Ukraine. Should Gazprom proceed with breaching the agreement and further reduce the supplies of Mid-Asia’s gas to Ukraine, Naftogaz Ukrainy would be entitled to take adequate and asymmetrical actions to protect interests of its clients, people in the company pointed out.