ST. PETERSBURG — The government is ready to discuss prices for gas with Belarus, which gets the lowest rates among all of Russia’s trade partners, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Friday.
“No one of our foreign partners is getting gas cheaper than Belarus,” Putin said at a meeting in St. Petersburg with his counterparts from former Soviet republics. “It is the cheapest gas, yet we will discuss all issues today.”
Belarus suggested revising the rates as gas supplies in Europe increase and prices fall, prompting consumers to renegotiate the terms, Belarussian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said at the meeting. Belarus is also seeking the cancellation of duties on supplies of Russian oil products to the country by January, he said.
Putin said Gazprom has not made any concessions to European customers when demand fell. He also reiterated that Russia supplies sufficient crude oil without export duties to cover Belarusian domestic needs in full.
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