OREANDA-NEWS. January 26, 2009. In 2009, Belarus is likely to pay an average price for Russian gas at the level of USD 148 per 1,000 cubic metres, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov told a press conference on January 23.

According to Andrei Kobyakov, gas pricing in Belarus goes under the market formula that depends on the prices for oil products which, in turn, are closely linked to the oil prices. “We have drawn up an average annual forecast and arrived to a conclusion that, taking into account the forecast parameters for oil prices of not more than USD 50 a barrel, we can expect the gas price for the Belarusian economic agents to be USD 175 in 2009,” he said.

According to Andrei Kobyakov, the economic agents are facing difficult time and additional burden for them as the growing prices for energy is unnecessary. The Vice Premier said: “Understanding all the aforesaid, we have not revised the prices for electric energy in the foreign currency”.