Russian, Belarusian approaches to gas issue converging - Dvorkovich
MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - The Russian and Belarusian approaches to resolving their gas issue are converging, Deputy Russian Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters.
"There's no final agreement yet, but our sides are definitely bringing our approaches closer together. We're now at the stage where we can report to our leaderships," he said.
"We've coordinated a text that can be submitted to the leadership, but this does not mean that the sides agree with the text entirely. But issues remain which we at our own level have no authority to resolve. The leadership has already been briefed but there's no decision yet," he said.
Minsk and Moscow have prepared a draft protocol on oil and gas issues which is currently being considered by the Russian leadership, Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said. "The latest talks were held last Friday, and a draft protocol was put together," Semashko told reporters in Minsk on Thursday.
"It has been initialed by my counterpart [Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich]," Semashko said.
The document is currently being examined by the Russian leadership.
"Perhaps next week it will see the light of day," Semashko said.
The dispute over Belarusian nonpayment for gas flared up over differing interpretations of the formula for pricing Russian gas. The underpayment in 2016 as a whole may reach $500 million. In response, Russia reduced scheduled supplies of crude oil to Belarus. The schedule stipulates supply of 4 million tonnes in the first quarter, down from 5.5 million tonnes in the same quarter two years ago.