| Gazprom recognized Belarus as a country with a market economy Gazprom has announced the approximate price of Russian gas for Belarus in 2007. As Alexander Ryazanov, deputy chairman of the board of Gazprom, said yesterday, it “should be at least three times higher than now.” That is, approximately $140 per thousand cubic meters. Such a serious increase caused a shock in Minsk, which, although it declared its readiness for an increase in prices for Russian gas, apparently did not imagine Gazprom’s true demands. Such growth will cost the Belarusian budget almost $2 billion.
The price targets announced by Gazprom look quite sensational. Until now, he (and through him the Russian authorities) have been actively reproached for his selective approach. For “disloyal” partners like Ukraine, Moldova or Georgia, he sharply increased prices, but for friendly Belarus, led by “the last dictator of Europe,” he kept them at an invariably low level, which no longer exists in any market (except for the domestic Russian market itself). Therefore, the seemingly radical decision of Gazprom, among other things, looks like a political advantage both for the gas monopoly and for official Moscow.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ryazanov’s statement demonstrates the seriousness of the Russian concern’s intentions to finally gain control over the gas transportation system of Belarus.
Last week, Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexey Miller suggested that Belarusian Energy Minister Alexander Ageev and Beltransgaz General Director Dmitry Kazakov buy gas starting next year “at prices corresponding to the European level.” At that time, this was perceived by officials from Minsk without much excitement (the Belarusian colleagues were informally informed that the price revision would take place last year). Moreover, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky convinced journalists on Monday that Mr. Miller’s statements about his intention to increase gas prices for Belarus are nothing more than an invitation to negotiations. Now the “invitation” also includes a basic price option, which exceeds the most pessimistic expectations of Minsk.
Moreover, Mr. Ryazanov yesterday bluntly described what could prompt Gazprom to give Belarusians a discount. According to him, one of the ways to reach a compromise on the price of gas supplies is Gazprom’s participation in the gas transportation and gas distribution infrastructure of consumer countries. “We, of course, would like to be more active in these countries, to participate in gas distribution and direct sale of gas to consumers. For example, in Belarus, where we cannot yet participate in this,” complained the top manager of Gazprom. Meanwhile, the state company Beltransgaz monopolistically supplies gas to Belarusian consumers, which also owns the main gas pipelines that transit about 17 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe, Lithuania and Western Ukraine.
The official authorities of Belarus did not comment yesterday on the words of the deputy chairman of the board of Gazprom. But the opinions of Minsk politicians were divided. The head of the commission on economics, budget and finance of the upper house of the Belarusian parliament, Stepan Pisarevich, told Interfax that such statements “are certainly elements of blackmail and dishonest behavior.” “The issue of increasing gas prices always arises in connection with the issue of creating a joint venture on the basis of Beltransgaz and Gazprom,” he noted. The senator recalled that the price of gas for Belarus is determined by the agreement on the creation of a union state and the agreement on creating equal conditions for business entities. “Why doesn’t the Russian side raise the question of withdrawing from the agreement or revising it?” - asked the parliamentarian.
Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky spoke about the same thing on Monday. “The Belarusian government will adhere to the agreements that we have on equal energy prices for business entities of the union state,” the head of the Belarusian Cabinet of Ministers emphasized.
Meanwhile, this agreement provides for the creation of a joint venture on a parity basis based on the assets of Beltransgaz. Gazprom points out that Minsk has not fulfilled its obligations under this point, which means there can be no conversation about equal energy prices for Russian and Belarusian consumers. Let us recall that at the end of 2003, Gazprom refused to renew the contract for the supply of gas to Belarus at the price set for the neighboring Smolensk region. This happened after President Alexander Lukashenko valued Beltransgaz at $5 billion, and the expected share of Gazprom in the joint venture, respectively, at $2.5 billion. In Moscow, they proposed to talk about buying out 50% at book value - for 300 million dollars. Since then, negotiations on Beltransgaz have not been resumed. At the same time, Gazprom has been supplying gas to Belarus for the third year at $46.68 per thousand cubic meters. Over these years, the average Russian wholesale gas price has increased from 24 to 41 dollars per thousand cubic meters, and in the Smolensk region (previously it was an indicator of the rate for Belarus) gas price has risen from 29 dollars to 44.5 dollars.
A different point of view on the problem of increasing prices for Russian gas was expressed by the head of the commission on monetary policy and banking activities of the lower house of the Belarusian parliament, Roman Vnuchko. “Gazprom itself is being blackmailed, selling gas to Belarus at domestic prices,” the deputy told Interfax. - Belarus is a headache for Gazprom; it is difficult for it to raise gas prices for other partners, having such a precedent. Poland is gradually abandoning gas and switching to solid fuel. We also need to look for new sources of energy.” In particular, according to Mr. Vnuchko, “gas problems will speed up the resolution of the issue of building a nuclear power plant in Belarus.”
“Belarus will insist on observing union agreements on gas prices, counting on the fact that Russia will not want to act as the union’s gravedigger,” Belarusian economist Valery Dashkevich told Vremya Novostey. At the same time, he noted that if such arguments do not have an effect, an increase in gas prices could be a serious blow to the Belarusian economy. “As a result of rising energy costs, the number of unprofitable enterprises will increase and the profitability of profitable ones will fall. This will undoubtedly affect exports, since the products of Belarusian enterprises will become more expensive,” Dashkevich suggested. “A decline in the profitability of enterprises will place a heavy burden on banks, which will complicate the situation in the Belarusian economy,” Yaroslav Romanchuk, an expert at the Belarusian analytical center “Strategy,” noted in an interview with Vremya Novostey. Anna NAUMOVA, Minsk, Alexey GRIVACHS |
|
