Price Shock
The Consequences of the Increase in Natural Gas Prices for Belarus
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom is seeking to gradually raise the price of natural gas in the newly independent states to West European levels. Since January 2007, Belarus has had to cope with an increase in the price of natural gas from US$46 to US$100 per thousand cubic metres and, starting 2011 at the latest, will no longer receive any special conditions. The Belarusian economy is very energy intensive and highly dependent on imported natural gas. Therefore, an increase in the price of natural gas has clear consequences. A recession can be avoided only if energy efficiency is boosted or the share of natural gas in the country’s energy mix is lowered.
(Osteuropa 4/2007, pp. 85–92)