Lukashenko Approves Amendment to Gas Agreement with Russia

The agreement concerns the tariff formation for gas supplies to Belarus and its transit through the country. Lukashenko said earlier that Moscow “cheated” Minsk on the issue of switching to equivalent gas tariffs. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko welcomed first steps to change the gas contract with Russia. On Saturday, January 25, the President’s decree “On the draft international treaty” was published on the website of the head of the Belarusian state regarding the procedure for setting tariffs for gas supply to Belarus and its transportation through gas pipelines located in this country. The agreement of November 25, 2011 is mentioned as the basis for negotiations with Russia. “To approve the draft Protocol on amending the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Russian Federation on the procedure for pricing (tariffs) for the supply of natural gas to the Republic of Belarus and its transportation through pipelines located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus of November 25, 2011 as the basis for negotiations,” the document says. Lukashenko accused Moscow of deceit The day before, Lukashenko accused Moscow of deceiving Minsk and not switching, as promised, to domestic Russian gas prices for deliveries to Belarus. “As for gas, they cheated us - they did not provide us with equal prices. Who has ever seen such a thing?” the Belarusian leader said. He emphasized that Minsk insists on similar gas tariffs with Moscow, which will allow enterprises of the two countries to compete in the market on an equal footing. Gazprom and Belarus signed a protocol on gas prices for January - February 2020 on December 31 and addenda to the transit and fuel supply contracts, extending their validity until 2021. The contracted volumes of deliveries and transit in 2020 remained at the 2019 level (20 billion cubic meters). In January-February, Belarus will receive gas at the price of 2019 - $ 127 per 1 thousand cubic meters.