Gazprom’s Headquarters hosted today a working meeting between Valery Golubev, Deputy Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee; Rimma Filimonova, Deputy Energy Minister of the Republic of Belarus and Vladimir Mayorov, Director General of Beltransgaz.

The meeting participants summed up the results of cooperation in the gas sector for the first half of the year and considered the prospects of work through the end of 2008.

The parties expressed their satisfaction with the progress in the implementation of the long-term Gas Supply and Transit Contract for the current year.

It was emphasized that a Supplement to the Contract signed this July had helped to settle all issues relevant to Russian gas supplies and transit via the Republic in 2008. The payments for the gas consumed by Belarus during the first half of the year as well as the payments for transit-related services over the same period were made by the parties in full. The meeting agreed upon gas marketing prices on the Republican territory and settled all matters concerning the financial and business activities of Beltransgaz (a joint gas transmission venture between Russia and Belarus) for the current year.

Background:

On December 31, 2006, Gazprom and Beltransgaz signed a Gas Supply and Transit Contract for 2007 through 2011. The document fixed the Russian gas price for 2007 at USD 100 per 1,000 cu m and the pricing formula from January 1, 2008 (which is in line with the Russian gas supply pricing formula for Europe) as well as the discounts to the market price over 2008 to 2010 (0.67, 0.8 and 0.9 respectively). Starting from 2011, Belarus as well as Russian industrial consumers will pay gas prices equally profitable for Gazprom versus prices of gas delivered to Europe.

The Gas Supply and Transit Contract for 2007 through 2011 envisages signing Supplements fixing a Russian gas transit rate via Belarus linked to the level of an extra charge for gas marketing in the Republic.