MINSK, 4 January (BelTA) – Tariffs on natural gas transportation on the common market of the Eurasian Economic Union should not exceed the tariffs that entities of the domestic natural gas market pay. Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Igor Petrishenko made the statement in an interview with the Respublika newspaper, BelTA has learned.
In his words, equal business operation terms in the Eurasian Economic Union represent a fundamental idea behind the creation of the union. The pricing of gas transportation services on the Eurasian Economic Union's common natural gas market is the most important matter and the only matter the sides have yet to agree on in the sphere of natural monopolies. According to Igor Petrishenko, gas-extracting countries would like domestic prices regulated by antimonopoly bodies of the EAEU member states while owners of the gas transportation system are free to set prices for export deliveries of natural gas, including for exports to other members of the Eurasian Economic Union's common gas market. One wonders whether prices for gas transportation to the common market will differ from prices for gas transportation to domestic consumers. It is the key issue that directly affects the possibility of building an effective common natural gas market of the union where all members enjoy equal conditions, Igor Petrishenko noted.
The official pointed out that since the owner of the gas transportation system is free to set gas transportation prices, the price Belarusian consumers are supposed to pay is three times higher than the price consumers in Russia's Smolensk Oblast pay for the same service. “The approach rules out any kind of equal business operation terms. We need an equal competition environment for all commercial entities regardless of where they are located: in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, or Kyrgyzstan,” he stressed.
Igor Petrishenko stated: “The Belarusian side does not insist on introducing a universal gas transportation tariff for all the Eurasian Economic Union member states. The Belarusian side does not try to force the countries to introduce government regulations of these tariffs if their national laws do not account for it. We suggest that regulatory bodies and monopolies of the member states should observe the key principle that ensures fair competition in the sphere of natural gas in the Eurasian Economic Union – gas transportation tariffs on the common market of the Eurasian Economic Union must not exceed the tariffs commercial entities enjoy on the domestic natural gas market.”
The deputy prime minister reminded that on 11 December 2020 at the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council the heads of state gave instructions to work out reconciled approaches to the matter for the sake of discussing them during the next session.
