The negotiations on the establishment of the common gas market with Russia will be intensified, Belarus Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko said at the plenary meeting “Innovation and Investment Development of the Machine-Building Sector of Belarus” on 24 May, BelTA has learned.

Vladimir Semashko recalled that Belarus and Russia signed a document on gas supplies for 2017-2019. “We have signed an interim document on gas. With regard to the common gas market, it must be created by 1 January 2025. We started a new cycle of negotiations with our Russian partners, for the time being at the level of deputy ministers. We must now intensify these negotiations,” the vice prime minister said. He added that the head of state gave instructions to prepare the relevant documents for consideration and eventual adoption by 1 January 2018.

The vice prime minister said earlier that if the principles of the common gas market are agreed upon with the Russian Federation, then the document will be submitted to the Eurasian Economic Union partners – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. “They will examine it and see whether they are ready to work on such principles. Moreover, we agreed with Russia that if, for some reason, our partners refuse to participate, then we will develop the gas market between us: Russia and Belarus,” Vladimir Semashko said.

According to him, Belarus and Russia have settled the oil dispute. “We have our relations settled through 2024: in terms of the oil volume and pricing, with good conditions for Belarus,” he said. “On the other hand, our refineries are in the middle of big upgrade projects: Mozyr oil refinery is implementing a project worth $1.735 billion, Naftan is carrying out a $1.4 billion project,” Vladimir Semashko said.