Minsk has promised to repay gas debt by end-Sept or earlier - Novak
SOLNECHNOGORSK. Sept 7 (Interfax) - Moscow and Minsk have agreed on repayment of the latter's gas debt in September, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.
"We basically agreed there that the colleagues will repay it. Work is ongoing in this area now, both on reconciliation of the debt and on finding sources to repay it. In general though, based on our conversations that took place on the sidelines with the energy minister, with the finance minister, this should be done in September. Maybe it will happen earlier than the end of the month; there are many technical issues there," Novak said.
Last week, Novak participated in talks in Minsk as part of the Russian government delegate. He said that Belarus's debt for gas supplies had grown to $328 million.
In 2019, Belarus imported 20.261 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, and in H1 2020 offtake reduced to 9.06 bcm. The gas price for Belarus for 2020 was set at $127 per 1,000 cubic meters. Since September, it has again been lower than prices on the European spot market.