Official representative of Gazprom, Sergei Kupriyanov, stated on May 21 that Belarus' debt for gas by the end of 2010 may increase to 500-600 million dollars. According to him, the debt is growing because of Beltransgaz's decision to pay for supplies of "blue fuel" not at the contract price. "We are very concerned with current situation", Gazprom representative said.
«That’s true that the debt for gas supplied to Belarus is increasing every month. Beltransgaz decided to pay for supplies not at the contract price, but at the unilaterally set by itself. And as a result, the arrears for January-March reached 137 million dollars. Today, there was a regular payment, the debt rose by 55 million more — up to 192 million dollars», Interfax-Gas Information Agency quotes Sergei Kupriyanov.
In Gazprom they also warned that if gas arrears of Belarus continue to grow, it is possible to adopt punitive measures provided in the contract, up to the limitation of supplies.
As Telegraf previously reported, Economic Adviser of Russian Embassy in Belarus, Andrei Kuznetsov, stated that for failure of earlier agreements on gas payment, Gazprom may impose a penalty fine on Minsk. «The penalties are provided by contract», the representative of Russian embassy said.
