Russia ready to sell gas to Kazakhstan for much less than it does to Belarus - Kazakh energy minister

ASTANA. April 19 (Interfax) - Russia is ready to sell gas to northern and eastern Kazakhstan for much less than it does to Belarus, Kazakh Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev said.

"They [Russia's Gazprom] give us gas at a price much lower than, say, the one for Belarus," Satkaliyev told reporters on Wednesday, speaking of negotiations with Gazprom on gas supply to northern and eastern Kazakhstan.

"Russia understands that effective work is possible only in the two-way mode and meets us halfway by offering the price that is way lower than European prices and much lower than the price on the Russian-Belarusian border," he said.

Top executives of Gazprom and Kazakhstan's QazaqGaz have held a series of meetings, the minister said.

"We have a plan and a tentatively approved route for the new gas pipelines from Russia," he said.

Gas will be supplied to northern and eastern Kazakhstan from Kashagan and Karachaganak fields, the Beineu-Bozoi gas pipeline, as well as from Gazprom resources "through the construction of additional gas pipelines," Satkaliyev said.

"This gas pipeline may be extended to China, but for now we are talking only about meeting gas needs in Kazakhstan," he said.

Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov has tasked the Energy Ministry and the Samruk Kazyna state fund with preparing a final decision on gas supply to northern and eastern Kazakhstan by May 1.