Yamal-Europe Gas Pipeline On Consideration

"Russia will not commence the construction of the Yamal-Europe 2 gas pipeline across Belarusian territory until after the completion of the Nord Stream and South Stream gas pipelines," Russian ambassador to Belarus Aleksandr Surikov told a news conference in Minsk last Friday.

"The issue has not been discarded but rather postponed for further research," the ambassador said.

He noted that long-term gas supply contracts - for periods of 20 to 30 years - with European consumers must become a precondition for considering the Yamal-Europe 2 project.

At the same time, Surikov stressed, any energy supplier or producer "seeks to bypass transit states" in its supply structure.

Asked about the construction of the Baltic Pipeline System oil pipeline (BPS-2, which bypasses Belarus), Surikov reminded that the decision had been "made in order to get rid of transit dependence, even if [that dependence is] on a friendly country."

The ambassador also noted that, after 2009, Russia and Belarus will have to revisit the issue of separating the export duties on oil and oil products.

The Yamal-Europe natural gas pipeline is 4,196 kilometers long and connects to natural gas fields located in Western Siberia, with future plans to connect the Yamal peninsula in Russia with Germany.

Author: Ksenia Kochneva