Ambassador V.Semashko : Belarus and Russia make progress on gas price in 2021

Minsk, October 1 - Neftegaz.RU. Belarus and Russia have made progress on matters of the price for Russian gas for Belarus in 2021, Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko told reporters on the sidelines of the plenary session of the 7th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in Belarus, BelTA has learned.

“I had a meeting with Alexey Miller [CEO of Gazprom] in St. Petersburg on 11 September. We made progress in our understanding. I will not dwell on nuances. We worked fruitfully, found consensus on the main issues," Ambassador Semashko said.

In his opinion, there will be step-by-step reduction of the price of Russian gas for Belarus. "Most likely, we will see some step [to reduce the price] on 1 January 2021. I think we will be able to create the common gas market in the Union State from 1 January 2022," the ambassador said.

Earlier, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview that Russia and Belarus will soon engage in talks to discuss the terms of energy supplies, including their cost, for the period up to 2025.

"We will soon discuss energy supplies, including their cost, for the near-term perspective, that is for 2021 and the period until 2025. We are discussing common energy markets in the electric power industry and in the oil and gas industry. This is important from the point of view of closer ties. This will also benefit both countries,” Novak said.

Belarus pays $127 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas in 2020.