Business news

MOSCOW, 13 April (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia have amended the previous agreements on oil and natural gas trade. The relevant protocols were signed by Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow on 13 April, BelTA has learned.

Vice Prime Minister of Russia Arkady Dvorkovich told media that Belarus and Russia had signed a total of four documents. The number includes protocols on amending the intergovernmental agreement on pricing natural gas deliveries to Belarus and future cooperation in natural gas affairs, on consequent operation of the natural gas transportation company Beltransgaz, and measures to smooth out trade and economic cooperation in the export of oil and oil products.

Arkady Dvorkovich said: “Through reliance on mutual trust and understanding of common strategic interests we’ve been able to find common approaches and have managed to fully resolve the existing problems after the Saint Petersburg meeting of the presidents of the two countries.”

The official added that commercial documents on natural gas will be signed within the next few hours. They will allow avoiding problems for the next few years.

According to the Russian vice premier, the sides have agreed to work out a roadmap on forming the common markets of natural gas and electricity. Arkady Dvorkovich said he hopes for fruitful cooperation between Russia and Belarus in other spheres, including the production sector and high technologies.

Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko remarked that in addition to addressing the issues that emerged in 2016-2017 the sides had also determined terms for 2018-2019. “We’ve built a bridge into the future towards the common market of electricity and natural gas,” he said. Vladimir Semashko underlined that enabling equal business operation terms is one of the main incentives for Belarus’ participation in the Eurasian Economic Union. There are plans to work out basic conditions for the operation of the common markets of natural gas and electricity soon.