Nikolai Korbut said the Russian and Belarusian Finance Ministries had agreed on the terms and the size of the loan.
Russian state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom said that limitations had been imposed on Russian gas supplies Wednesday because independent gas supplier, Trans Nafta, had fulfilled its obligations to supply 360 million cu m of gas. Belarus did not conclude any new contracts, Gazprom said.
Gazprom had been supplying Russian natural gas to Belarus from 2002 to 2004 at preferential prices. The Belarusian side was expected to help set up a joint gas transportation enterprise based on Gazprom and Beltransgaz.
The deliveries stopped as the two sides disagreed over the price of the planned deal. Gazprom said it would not discuss further gas supplies unless it could obtain a 50% share in Beltransgaz, setting the price at $600 million. Belarus, however, insisted on the $5 billion figure.
From January 1, 2004 Belarus received gas from independent suppliers such as Trans Nafta.
