MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] is considering the absence of response from Azerbaijan on the proposed amount of natural gas supplies in 2007 as a refusal to buy, a company official said Tuesday.
"The Azerbaijani government met to discuss the issue yesterday, but we have received no reply," said Alexander Medvedev, the head of Gazprom's export arm, Gazexport. "We regard its silence as a refusal to buy Russian natural gas."
Gazprom proposed that Azerbaijan pay $235 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas in 2007 and asked the republic to specify gas volumes, Medvedev said.
Since last year, Russian energy giant Gazprom has been pushing for European prices for the gas it sells to its ex-Soviet neighbors, which previously enjoyed preferential rates.
Azerbaijan produces some 4-5 billion cubic meters of gas compared with the country's requirements of 10-11 billion cubic meters a year. This year, the republic is importing Russian natural gas at $110 per 1,000 cubic meters.
