August 08, 2007	Wednesday	Rajab 23, 1428

MINSK, Aug 7: Belarus said on Tuesday it was paying off its debts to Russia's Gazprom and that all debts would be settled by the end of the week, averting a threatened cut-off. “Last Friday, as promised, the Russian side received $190 million and on Saturday about $60 million more.

The Belarussian side will settle its debt by August 10 and I think before,” said the government press office, quoting First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko.

Alarm bells were raised in the European Union last week when Gazprom threatened to reduce gas supplies to Belarus by almost half if Minsk did not pay off a debt totalling $456 million by August 3.—AFP