Belarusian President: Beltransgaz Sale Very Profitable
The sale of Belarusian gas transport company Beltransgaz to Russian gas company Gazprom has been very profitable for the Republic of Belarus, its president has said.
President Alexander Lukashenko told a news conference today that the deal, which he put at a $5 billion value, had been financially advantageous to Belarus. "It is a very profitable deal for our country," he said.
Last month, the Republic of Belarus was forced to sell a 50 per cent stake in the Beltransgaz company to Gazprom due to worsening economic conditions in the country. The deal brought Gazprom's ownership to 100 per cent.
President Lukashenko also told reporters that Belarus would benefit greatly from the reduced gas prices granted to the country under the terms of the deal. Under the agreement, Belarus will pay $164 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas for the first three months of the year, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said last month, with an average price of $165.60 per 1,000 cubic metres set for the entire year.
"If we bought gas under previous prices, it would cost $330 per 1,000 cubic meters for Belarus from January and the price would grow to $380 per 1,000 cu m by the end of the year (2012)," President Lukashenko said.
The gas price is in addition to monthly repayments owed to Gazprom from Belarus for previous gas supply.
The reduced gas prices under the deal would save Belarus $2 billion in gas payments, the president said.
President Lukashenko denied that the deal would affect Belarus's sovereignty, and that accusations that Belarus has lost leverage against Russia was "nonsense."
"The people who say that Belarus has lost its sovereignty say that because they think we sold it to the wrong party," he said. "If I had sold the company to their patrons in Europe and the U.S., they would not bear any grudges.
"The pipe has stayed here - no one has taken it to Moscow. People are working here."
Russia will also facilitate Belarus's construction of a nuclear power plant, the president said, with the provision of a $10 billion loan.