Russian natural gas company Gazprom has applied to the International Arbitration Court on Wednesday, claiming Belarusian regional gas companies did not pay for gas supplied by Gazprom, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.
'Gazprom Transgaz Belarus, as a supplier of Russian natural gas for Belarusian consumers, appealed to the International Arbitration Court with a claim to the gas supplying organizations of Belarus,' Interfax sited Gazprom officials as saying.
Gazprom Transgaz Belarus, owned solely by Gazprom, operates about seven thousand kilometers of pipelines in Belarus and supplies around 20 billion cubic meters of gas annually to the country.
In late February, Belarusian Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik announced that the total debt of consumers to power companies and gas companies was $600 million.
The country's officials have repeatedly asked Gazprom for a discount on gas prices due to the drop in oil prices. However Gazprom refused to reduce the price of gas for Belarus in April.
In 2014, Gazprom filed another lawsuit at the International Arbitration Court seeking to recover $4.5 billion in debt from Naftogaz of Ukraine due to similar claims.
By Emre Gurkan Abay in Moscow
Anadolu Agency
gurkan.abay@aa.com.tr