The Belarusian government is ready to consider selling control of Beltranshaz to Gazprom, First Deputy Prime Minister Uladzimir Syamashka told reporters in Minsk on Thursday.
If Gazprom formally announces its wish, "we’ll think and consider this proposal," Mr. Syamashka said.
Following the payment of the last $625-million installment in late February, Gazprom currently holds 50 percent in the Belarusian gas pipeline company.
While on a visit to Minsk in late March, Andrei Kruglov, deputy chairman of the board of the Russian state-run natural gas monopoly, said that Gazprom would like to acquire control of the company. However, he noted, this is a matter of relations between not only these two economic entities but also between the two states. Since the governments are the main stockholders of both Gazprom and Beltranshaz, "we’ll adjust our investment plans on the basis of interstate agreements," he said.
