MINSK - Belarus offered Russia's gas giant Gazprom joint projects worth $1.5 billion in the energy and chemical sectors on Tuesday but remained silent on whether it would cede control over gas transit pipelines.
Last month Russia, a key ally of President Alexander Lukashenko, whose re-election is denounced as fraudulent in the West, threatened to raise gas prices to 'European levels' unless Belarus transferred control over its pipeline system to Gazprom.
Gazprom exports through Belarus about 20 percent of its gas to Europe. The rest goes through Ukraine.
Talks on new gas prices for Belarus, which buys gas at about $47 per 1,000 cubic metres, are expected to start in May. Gazprom wants to raise prices to about $140-$150.
The Belarussian government said the new joint projects did not represent a concession.
Lukashenko has previously said only a small increase in gas prices was possible as otherwise Russia would violate an longstanding agreement on creating a "union state" between the two former Soviet republics.
"These projects were developed a long time ago. Belarus plans to implement them. It does not depend on whether another investor participates or not," the government press service quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko as saying.
"But on the other hand, if a foreign investor joins in, then implementation will be quicker."
Belarus offered Gazprom a joint project worth $800 million to increase fertiliser production at the Azot chemicals plant in Grodno in western Belarus.
It also wants Gazprom's help in creating new underground gas storage areas and constructing a new power plant in Beloozersk in western Belarus, near the border with European Union member Poland. The three projects, with a total value of about $1.5 billion, are aimed at foreign markets, Semashko said.
But a government statement made no mention of Beltransgas, the gas pipeline operator. Gazprom has been trying to secure control over the Belarussian pipelines since 2003, so far without much success.
The Belarussian economy is unreformed and depends heavily on cheap gas and other subsidies from Russia.
Gazprom exports through Belarus about 20 percent of its gas to Europe. The rest goes through Ukraine. Gazprom nearly doubled gas prices for Ukraine this year and plans to initiate another price increase from July.
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