Belarus-Russia: Full Restoration of Gas Supplies

Gazprom announced the full restoration of Russian gas supplies to Belarus at 10:00 Moscow time [07:00 GMT]. Thursday

Belarus acknowledged the receipt of Gazprom's $228 million transit fee payment.

The Russian gas monopoly paid the fees after the company's CEO Alexei Miller said earlier in the day that Belarus had settled its gas supply debts of $200 million accrued since the start of the year.

However, Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko insisted Gazprom "shortchanged" Belarus.

Semashko said that the $228 million was only an advance payment, or 87% of the total $260 million owed to Belarus, and the country would suspend gas transit to the EU unless Moscow paid debts in full.

Gazprom reduced gas supplies to Belarus by 15% on Monday, increasing the cuts to 30% on Tuesday and then 60% on Wednesday.

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