He stressed that Belarus is not seeking any preferential price for gas or the price at the level for Russian regions. “Belarusians want a fair price, which would provide the same profitability for Gazprom as its supplies to other markets. The current negotiations do not cover any integration discount in the price, neither that of the Union State nor the Eurasian Economic Union,” said the prime minister.
In his words, the situation in the energy market has recently changed significantly compared to what it was like at the end of 2019, when Belarus and Russia agreed on a gas price and signed a contract. For spot gas supplies, the price per 1,000 cu m is $80 (under the contract with Russia, Belarus has to pay $127 per 1,000 cu m of gas).
The head of government said that, in general, it is more difficult to conduct the negotiations in a remote mode. But gradually everybody is getting used to this format. For example, a recent meeting of the Council of Ministers was also held in the format of a video conference.
Rumas also mentioned he had talks scheduled with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. They were postponed due to the illness of his Russian counterpart. The Belarusian head of government expressed hope that the talks would resume in the near future.
