Belarus to allocate budget funds to solve gas payments issue

JSC Gazpromtransgaz Belarus has filed a lawsuit in the International Arbitration Court at the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce against the Belarusian gas suppliers. Since early 2016, arrears for fuel and energy supplies to enterprises has increased by 2.2 times and reached BYR 1.6 trillion. The debt has accumulated due to late payments by the key economic sectors, industry and agriculture. The state is set to allocate budgetary funds to repay current and overdue payments for energy. Chronic debtors will receive payment schedules and penalties will not be applied. Energy sector will be subjected to a comprehensive assessment in terms of current expenditure in order to find reserves to reduce prices for final consumers. Belarus is likely to delay payments for gas supplies and drag out the trial in order to put pressure on Russia in negotiations over natural gas cost reductions for Belarus.