Today, at 10:00 am local time, Russian gas suppliers imposed restrictions on gas deliveries to the Republic of Belarus. The limits were introduced based on the independent gas supplier Trans Nafta’s claim that Beltransgaz had surpassed the contracted gas volumes. At the same time, the Belarusian side hadn’t made bids on new contracts.

In order to resume full-scale gas deliveries, Russian gas suppliers recommended Belarus to urgently sign new contracts.

Beltransgaz, however, started non-sanctioned withdrawal of Russian gas transited via the Republic to third countries.

As a result, starting from 6:00 am Moscow time, Gazprom was forced to terminate Russian gas deliveries to Belarus, including for transit purposes.

The responsibility for the breach of Gazprom’s contractual obligations to foreign gas consumers is fully vested in the Belarusian side.

Reference:

The Beltransgaz and Trans Nafta companies signed the last contract on gas deliveries (360 million cubic meters) to Belarus on February 12.

ITERA ceased to supply gas to the Republic on February 12.

Gazprom has not been delivering gas to Belarus since January 1, 2004.

DIVISION OF RELATIONS WITH MASS MEDIA