MINSK, April 8. /TASS/. The price of Russian gas for Belarus will remain at $130 per 1,000 cubic meters until the end of the year, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said commenting on the results of his recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.
"The Russian side suggested completing this year the execution of the current contract with Gazprom, which stipulates the price of $130 per 1,000 cubic meters," Lukashenko said.
"I would not say that we managed to achieve the intended result and reach the goal that we had initially set," the president said, commenting on the Moscow talks. "It was a kind of compromise, but a compromise that resulted in the terms that are very favorable for us."
He said that Belarus would compensate for the Russian gas price, which Minsk has been describing as too high, by re-exporting Russian oil. The Belarusian budget will receive additional $500 million by re-exporting 6 million tons of Russian oil annually.
In addition, the gas price for Belarus will be calculated in Russian rubles.
Belarus and Russia have been negotiating a reduction in gas prices since early 2016. Minsk insisted on lowering the price of Russian natural gas from $132 to $73 per 1,000 cubic meters and demanded that Russia switch to equal netback pricing. In response to underpayment of around $300 mln for Russian gas supplies Moscow cut its tax-free oil supplies to Belarus by more than a third.
On April 3, after the meeting between Presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, it was announced that the oil and gas dispute between the two states had been settled.
According to the agreement, Belarus will repay the debt to Gazprom in the amount of more than $700 mln. In response Russia will increase duty-free oil supplies to Belarus from 18 million to 24 million tonnes and will provide a discount starting from 2018.