Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Minsk Tuesday he had ordered the closure of the gas transit to Europe via Belarus, "until Gazprom pays the debt（债务） for the transit.""Until they pay for the last six months, there will be no gas transit（运输）," Lukashenko said.
According to the Belarusian leader, Russian energy giant Gazprom owes his country 260 million U.S. dollars for transit fees to Europe, and Minsk owes the company 190 million dollars because of the difference between the gas price it has paid and the originally agreed price in the contract（合同）.
"It is absurd that we are not paying off this debt," he said. "Unfortunately, the gas row is becoming a gas war between Gazprom and Belarus."One day earlier, when Lukashenko offered to pay back the due debt in machinery, equipment and other goods, his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev dismissed the suggestion with scorn, saying Gazprom could not receive payment in "pies, butter, cheese or other means of payment," only in currency, RIA Novosti news agency said.
Apparently（显然，表面上） offended, Lukashenko on Tuesday said, "We take it as an insult when we are lowered to the level of chops, sausages, butter and pancakes."He, meanwhile, said his country had found money and would pay for the Russian gas "soon," but the money was borrowed from his friends since the country had no free money to pay off the debt.
Belarusian state gas company Beltransgaz earlier on Tuesday said it would siphon off Russian gas supplies to Europe for its own need, the RIA Novosti reported, citing Belta agency.
The move followed Russian Gazprom's further cut of gas supplies to Minsk on Tuesday by 30 percent, up from Monday's slash of 15 percent, over the debt of some 200 million dollars for gas Belarus consumed.
However, according to a spokeswoman from Belarusian Energy Ministry, full transit of Russian gas to Europe through Belarus had not stopped.
Lyudmila Zenkovich said Belarus did not tap gas from its transit pipeline but had to switch a number of its power plants to reserve fuel.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑) |