Russia and Belarus agreed to resolve the oil and gas disputes between the two countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
Putin and his Belarusian counterpart attended an intergovernmental meeting in St. Petersburg where the two leaders agreed that they would reach a settlement within ten days to resolve the dispute.
Both countries agreed on striking a balance on natural gas prices for the next two-year period covering 2018 to 2019 in which Russia's Gazprom would apply discounts on supplies.
According to Belarusian officials, Russia will also revert back to supplying 24 million tons a year of oil supplies to Belarus.
The Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said the energy dispute settlement with Russia would lower tensions and bring stability.
- The gas dispute
Since 2016, Russia and Belarus have been unable to reach an agreement on how much Belarus will pay for Russian gas.Last year, during the period of low oil prices, Belarus paid
$73 for one cubic meter of natural gas from Russia. However, when oil prices increased, Russia charged Belarus $132 per cubic meter of gas.
Last year, Russia announced that $132 was a fair price. Furthermore, Russia reduced natural gas exports from 24 million tons a year to 18 million tons to Belarus.
Reporting By Emre Gurkan Abay
Writing By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr