Moscow, December 10 - Neftegaz.RU. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have agreed to meet before the end of the year to discuss the price of Russian natural gas supplies, the Kremlin said on December 7.
The leaders aim mainly to finalize the discussion of those issues in bilateral relations that are controversial, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. At a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) held in St. Petersburg, Lukashenko complained that Belarus has to pay $129 per 1,000 m3 for Russian gas in the border area with Russia's Smolensk region.
He said during the public part of the meeting that the price set for Belarus as an EAEU member was unfair because in the Smolensk region the price was equal to merely $70. In response, Putin said EAEU members, including Belarus, have enjoyed a much lower price than Germany, which has to pay $250 per 1,000 m3.
He added that the EAEU plans to establish a common oil and gas market in the future and offered to continue the price discussion with Lukashenko behind closed doors. Later Lukashenko told reporters that he had apologized to Putin for the harsh tone of his remarks.
The Russia-led EAEU was launched in 2015 and also includes Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an economic bloc aiming to optimize the flow of goods and services among its members.
