Belarus ranked third in gas availability for population in Europe

Belarus has joined the top three states in terms of gas availability for the population in Europe: the cheapest gas is in Kazakhstan, and Russia is the second on the list, RIA Novosti reports

The rating includes 30 countries: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Germany, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and others.

Residents of Kazakhstan can buy more than 10 thousand cubic metres of gas for their average monthly salary. Russia is ranked second (9.2 thousand cubic metres), and Belarus is third (5 thousand cubic metres). Luxembourg and the United Kingdom are also among the top five, as their citizens can buy more than 3 thousand cubic metres of gas.

Moldova closes the list: its residents can buy just 604 cubic metres. In addition, Lithuania, Portugal, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina are also in the end of the rating: their residents can buy an average of 805, 992 and almost 1,210 cubic metres, respectively.

"World gas prices in 2023 decreased significantly compared to the abnormal year 2022, but they were higher than the average annual level. The situation on the European market was determined by large gas reserves in underground storage facilities created in 2022, the relatively warm winter of 2022-2023 and the relatively high air temperature in November-December 2023. In addition to the warm winter, there was a decrease in gas consumption in Europe – partly due to the crisis in industry, partly to a strategy aimed to save resources in the face of a fundamental rejection of Russian pipeline gas," the source reported.