MOSCOW, December 29 (RIA Novosti) - A senior Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] official dismissed Friday Belarus's allegations that the energy giant was blackmailing Minsk in a dispute over a price on gas supplies in 2007.
"There was no blackmail whatsoever," said Alexander Medvedev, head of Gazprom's export arm.
Medvedev said it was Belarus that blackmailed Gazprom and Europe, threatening to disrupt Russian natural gas transits via its territory, 90% of which was pumped through Russia's Yamal-Europe pipeline.
Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko said earlier Friday that his country would not yield to Gazprom's pressure.
In the ongoing dispute between the two ex-Soviet neighbors, Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller said Wednesday the state-controlled Russian natural gas monopoly would cut off supplies to Belarus January 1 if no new agreement was signed by that time.
Gazprom has proposed that Belarus pay $75 per 1,000 cubic meters in cash, plus $30 in shares of the Belarusian government-owned pipeline company Beltransgaz.
But Belarusian officials called Gazprom's action a provocation and said Belarus, being a transit country, would not suffer gas shortages and would abide by the 2006 price of $46.68 per 1,000 cubic meters until the new contract was signed.
"We would rather go to bunkers than succumb to blackmail," Lukashenko said.
Russia responded by saying the statement represented an open declaration of intent to siphon off Europe-bound gas and warned Lithuania, Poland and Germany of possible supply shortages in the unfolding situation with Belarus.
Medvedev accused Belarusian authorities Friday of trying to justify their economic shortcomings.
"The president of Belarus was informed about the gas price hike in advance. And Belarus was proposed the most favorable terms of gas supplies, compared with other ex-Soviet republics," Medvedev said.
The Russian gas monopoly currently charges Armenia $110 per 1,000 cu m, while Ukraine pays $130 for Central Asian gas and Moldova $160. Gazprom has recently signed contracts for the supply of 1.1 billion cu m of gas to Georgia in 2007 at $235 per 1,000 cu m.
The dispute with Belarus is reminiscent of a gas spat with Ukraine early this year when Russia briefly suspended gas supplies, affecting consumers in Europe.
