Two Russian independent companies - ITERA and Trans Nafta - stopped gas deliveries to Belarus on February 12 claiming that the volumes provided for in respective contracts had already been taken out. Later in the day Trans Nafta signed a contract with the Belarussian side on the supply of 360 cu m of gas, which will last Belarus for 5-6 days.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Belarussian gas-transport enterprise Beltransgaz told RIA Novosti that it was prepared to sign an agreement with the Russian state company Gazprom for gas supplies at the rate of $50 per thousand cu m if the Belarussian governments decides so. Gazprom stopped gas supplies to Belarus due to differences over the price.
In the words of the Beltransgaz spokesman, if the Belarussian government does not agree to higher gas prices, talks with Gazprom and independent Russian companies will be continued.
