The contract price that Belarus paid to Gazprom for natural gas deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2009 was $121.98 per 1000 cubic meter, up from $115.6 in the third quarter, RIA Novosti reported on February 15 with reference to the Russian monopoly’s report.
The contract price is estimated to have totaled $192.9 for Moldova and $280 for the Baltic states, according to the report.
"Belarus’ worsening economic situation affected the paying capacity of gas consumers amid the global crisis," the report was quoted as saying.
In October 2009, Belarus ran into a debt totaling $165.84 million for gas supplied between January and June, the report says. "An agreement was reached with Beltranshaz [gas pipeline company] that the debt would be repaid by the end of 2009. The assumed obligation was fulfilled on December 23, 2009."
In a report released in mid-August, Gazprom said that the contract price of gas supplied to Belarus was $157.74 per 1000 cubic meters in the second quarter of 2009.
Under a five-year contract, signed with Gazprom on December 31, 2006, the price for Belarus was raised to $100 per 1000 cubic meters for 2007 compared with $46.68 in the previous two and a half years. The price was to gradually increase to the European market level by 2011. It was to be 67 percent of the level, excluding delivery costs, in 2008, 80 percent in 2009, 90 percent in 2010, and 100 percent in 2011.
