ASTANA, April 19. /TASS/. The Kazakh company QazaqGaz and Russia’s Gazprom have agreed on a route for possible development of the gas supply system in the northern and eastern regions of Kazakhstan, Kazakh Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev told reporters on Wednesday.

"A number of meetings were held with the leadership of Gazprom and with the leadership of QazaqGaz. We have a plan, we have a pre-agreed route for new gas pipelines from Russia," he said, answering a question about the development of gas supply system of Kazakhstan's regions.

According to Satkaliyev, this gas pipeline can be continued to China, but now it has been agreed only about covering gas needs in Kazakhstan.

"They (the Russian side - TASS) give us gas at a price much lower than Belarus. Preliminary negotiations are underway. Russia is meeting halfway in terms of providing a price that is several times lower than European prices and much lower than on the border of Russia and Belarus," the Kazakh Energy Minister explained.

Earlier, ex-Energy Minister of Kazakhstan Bolat Akchulakov said that the ministry is considering two options to supply gas to the eastern regions. The first one involves the construction of a gas pipeline along the route Kostanay - Astana - Pavlodar - Semey - Ust-Kamenogorsk, which will require significant investments and an increase in gas tariffs for consumers. The second option is the import of gas from Russia as part of a plan for cooperation in the gas industry between the two countries. In accordance with it, the parties are considering a possibility of building an international gas pipeline Russia - Kazakhstan - Chin.