OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2012. Today, as part of the business trip by Gazprom delegation to the Republic of Belarus, a working meeting took place between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus.

The parties discussed the main cooperation issues. It was mentioned that signing of intergovernmental agreements between Russia and Belarus had given a powerful impetus to economic development of the Republic. Consumers in Belarus get gas at comfortable prices and have an additional advantage for manufacturing competitive products.

After Beltransgaz  affiliation to Gazprom Group the gas industry in the Republic moved to a new level. The Beltransgaz large-scale investment program is being
implemented: gas transmission facilities retrofitting has started, upgrade plans for underground gas storage facilities  are being elaborated. This provides for
uninterrupted and failsafe gas supplies to the consumers in Belarus.

The meeting paid special attention to the prospects for gas use as a motor fuel in Belarus. It was noted that the conversion of vehicles and facilities to gas would allow vehicle owners and manufacturers to considerably cut down their fuel expenses, since methane prices in the Republic are much lower than those for gasoline and diesel fuel. Eventually, these actions may become one of the effectual measures for improving performance of the Belarusian economy. The parties stressed that the measures for increasing the NGV fuel sales volumes should be actively implemented in cooperation with the government authorities. In addition, attention should be paid both to the expansion of compressed natural gas vehicle fleet and to the promotion of the NGV fuel use in motor vehicles.

Alexey Miller and Alexander Lukashenko also considered the issues of social support. It was noted that in autumn Beltransgaz had signed a contract to render assistance in the reconstruction of the Brest Fortress. This step was caused by a concern that the memory of heroic pages in history common for Russia and Belarus should remain in the hearts of many generations to come.

“The activities of Beltransgaz as part of Gazprom secure sustainable capacity use and create prerequisites for increasing Russian gas transit volumes via Belarus to Europe to 30 per cent,” Alexey Miller summed up, following the results of the meeting.
Background

On November 25, 2011 the Russian Federation Government and the Government of the Republic of Belarus signed:
— the Agreement on the prices (tariffs) formation procedure for natural gas supply to the Republic of Belarus and transmission via gas pipelines located in the country;
— the Agreement on the terms and conditions for shares purchase and sale and further activities of Beltransgaz.

In furtherance of the above-mentioned documents, Gazprom and Beltransgaz signed on November 25, 2011 contracts for gas supply to Belarus and gas transmission via the Republic for 2012–2014. In addition, Gazprom and the State Property Committee of the Republic of Belarus entered into the purchase and sale contract for a 50 per cent stake in Beltransgaz. Taking account of the 50 per cent stake in Beltransgaz acquired by Gazprom between 2007 and 2010, Gazprom became the owner of 100 per cent of Beltransgaz shares.