MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. Belarus will continue to buy gas from Russia in the same volumes, and Gazprom "will not incur losses," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
"We have power plants that run on gas, which we maintain in cold mode. We have also deployed them for activities such as mining, and so on. Foreigners pay money into the budget, and these plants operate. Therefore, we are buying, and will continue to buy the same volumes of gas from Gazprom. I believe Gazprom will not incur any losses here. Natural gas is needed everywhere today," Lukashenko was quoted by the BelTA news agency.
"I must tell you, we also had our concerns. We did not face an energy shortage (before the construction of the Belarusian NPP - TASS). We were worried about what would happen after the plant was built," Lukashenko admitted.
However, the availability of additional electricity volumes has spurred the development of entire sectors, including in the national economy, he added.