The sale of Belarusian gas pipeline operator Beltransgaz to Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom was very profitable, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday.
"It is a very profitable deal for our country," Lukashenko told a news conference.
In late November Moscow and Minsk agreed on 2012-2014 gas contracts. Belarus, as a member of the Union State of Russia and Belarus and the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, will pay $164 per 1,000 cubic meters for Russian gas in the first quarter of 2012 compared with an average price of $400 paid by customers in Europe.
The average annual gas price for Minsk next year will amount to $165.6 per 1,000 cu m. In 2013-2014, the gas price for Belarus will be calculated under a special formula.
Under the deal reached between Moscow and Minsk, Gazprom increased its stake in Beltransgaz to 100 percent, up from 50 percent previously.
"If we bought gas under previous prices, it would cost $330 per 1,000 cubic meters for Belarus from January (2012) and the price would grow to $380 per 1,000 cu m by the end of (next) year," he said.
The contracts and sale of Beltransgaz will allow Belarus to save about $2 billion in gas payments and receive a large loan to finance construction of a nuclear power plant, Lukashenko said.
"The people who say that Belarus lost sovereignty (after Beltransgaz' sale) say that because they think we sold it to the wrong party. If I sold (Beltransgaz) to their patrons in Europe and the U.S., they would not bear any grudges," he added.
