MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. The anticipated January 1, 2024, opening date of the joint Russian-Belarusian power market has been pushed back, Russian Minister of Energy Nikolay Shulginov told reporters on Friday.

At the same time, he added that the parties have made substantial progress in their work.

"We have made significant progress in many areas, but [the launch of a joint energy market] is being done in stages, and it has not been finalized. But we've already made progress, there's an interstate agreement in place, but it won't go into effect until later," the minister added.

Dmitry Krutoy, the Ambassador of Belarus to Russia, stated in November 2023 that the wording of the agreement on the construction and operation of a single energy market between Belarus and Russia was ready, and that, while not yet signed, the deal was unofficially operational. He also stated that Minsk's reliance on gas will reduce when the Belarusian nuclear power plant becomes operational and its part of the country's energy balance rises to 40-45% by 2024-2025. According to Krutoy, this may have an impact on the parameters of the gas deal, which may be altered in 2024.