Projects
Government Bodies
Flag Friday, 29 March 2024
All news
All news
Economy
29 December 2016, 18:43

Belarus looks forward to common energy markets in Eurasian Economic Union

MINSK, 29 December (BelTA) – Equal conditions for commercial entities will create a stable platform for common energy markets in the Eurasian Economic Union, BelTA learned from Belarusian Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik.

The Energy Minister said: “The main task is to be competitive within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. We have to enable conditions and create prerequisites inside the country to allow the real sector of the economy to feel well and enjoy conditions at least as good as those in neighboring countries.”

“We have some safety margin. But we need to continue modernization and negotiations on gas prices with Russia. We are doing it in order to enable equal conditions for economic entities. Moreover, we signed an intergovernmental agreement in 2011. So the relevant legal base [for equal economic conditions] is available. It is not easy work and compromises have to be made,” said Vladimir Potupchik. “In our negotiations with Russia we labor under the belief that a common electricity market needs to start working as from 1 July 2019 while a common market of oil and natural gas needs to start working as from 1 January 2025.”

“If we create a common market and we have equal conditions, very good prospects of selling electricity on the common market of the Eurasian Economic Union and to third countries will open up before us. Naturally, we will grab the opportunity since the performance factor of our power-generating installations has improved substantially, including taking into account the commissioning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant,” he added.

The Energy Minister also pointed out that over the course of negotiations to prepare the draft Eurasian Economic Union Treaty the Belarusian Energy Ministry pressed for synchronizing the creation of the common markets of electricity and natural gas by 1 July 2019 since it would be hard to create a competitive common electricity market without creating a common market of primary energy resources first.

Subscribe to us
Twitter
Recent news from Belarus