Belarus eager to sign 2015-2017 gas import contract with Russia by 30 November

There are plans to sign the contract on importing Russian natural gas to Belarus in 2015-2017 by 30 November, BelTA learned from First Vice Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko on 18 November.

“We intend to sign the contract by 30 November. There are no restrictions on volumes: we will get as much as we need. I believe the next year’s price will be lower than this year,” said the First Vice Prime Minister. He specified that at present the price for 1,000m3 of natural gas is $168. Vladimir Semashko added that the price for natural gas is influenced by the falling exchange rate of the Russian ruble and oil prices.

According to information released at the beginning of the year, in 2014 Belarus intends to import about 20.465 billion m3 of natural gas from Russia. According to Belarusian First Deputy Energy Minister Leonid Shenets, the volume of natural gas will be sufficient for satisfying needs of all kinds of consumers in Belarus.

In 2013 Belarus imported about 19.5 billion m3 of natural gas. In the future Belarus intends to continue implementing the strategy of reducing the dependence on natural gas thanks to a set of measures designed to improve energy effectiveness of the energy industry and other branches of the national economy and by substituting the imported energy resource with energy from renewable sources. The share of local fuels in the fuel budget will also be increased.