Gazprom may sign contract for gas supplies to Belarus today

Gazprom and the Beltransgaz company may sign a contract for Russian gas supplies to Belarus today, a source in the Russian government told RBC. The final conditions of the contract are being elaborated on now. According to the source, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov will discuss the question of founding a joint venture on the basis of Beltransgaz with the President and the Prime Minister of Belarus during a visit to Belarus today.

As reported earlier, Russia and Belarus have appointed an independent appraiser (Deloitte&Touche CIS) to appraise the assets of Beltransgaz. Belarus estimates the value of these assets at $5bn, while Russia believes their value is just $600m. The source underlined that the appraisal was to be finished by the autumn.

Additionally, it is planned to discuss the question of ownership rights to the Transnefteprodukt company. According to the source, agreements on the settlement of property disputes and cooperation in the use of foreign pipelines have been prepared for signing. At the same time the source declined to give the date of signing of the agreements.