Russia’s Gazprom sets time for Belarus gas cutoff

MOSCOW — Russian state gas monopoly OAO Gazprom said Wednesday it will halt supplies to Belarus on Jan. 1 if no new contract is signed to end a price dispute and warned European countries about the developing crisis.

The threatened cutoff raised anew concerns in the West about Russia’s reliability as the key energy supplier to Europe. Moscow halted gas supplies to Ukraine Jan. 1 in a similar dispute, causing brief disruptions in Russian gas exports to several European nations.

Gazprom is demanding that Belarus pay more than twice the current price for gas next year and hand over a 50 percent stake in its gas distribution system. It refused to back down after Minsk threatened to siphon off Russian natural gas bound for Europe in the event of a suspension of supplies.

“If a gas supply contract for next year is not reached, Gazprom will have no grounds for deliveries of gas to Belarus as of 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700GMT) on Jan. 1, 2007,” Gazprom chief Alexei Miller said in televised comments.

Miller said that Gazprom would supply gas for European consumers to the Russia-Belarus border “in full volume and in full compliance with its contracts,” but a Belarusian official hinted earlier that Belarus could hinder supplies to Europe across its territory if Gazprom suspends deliveries meant for Belarus.

About 30 percent of Russian gas supplies to Europe transit through Belarus, much of it to Germany, Poland and Lithuania.