"This morning Gazprom received confirmation of [payment] from Beltransgaz that covers the debt owed for January-April and, based on that, the decision was made, starting at 10:00 am [Moscow time, 06:00 GMT], to begin the process of restoring gas to Belarus consumers in full," Kupriyanov said.

However Belarus deputy prime minister Vladimir Semashko said Thursday that the country would limit gas transit to Europe via Belarus if Gazprom did not pay a remaining sum of $32 million.

"If there's no official confirmation that Gazprom has paid off the debt completely, we'll impose limitations [on gas transit via Belarus]," the Russian Prime-Tass news agency quoted the deputy prime minister as saying.

"We'll wait for two more hours," he said, which would have put the deadline at 13:00 Minsk time.

The difference between the sum Gazprom paid and Belarus demanded was based on a disagreement over the rate for gas transit, Kupriyanov said, adding that Gazprom and Beltransgaz considered a proposal that would have raised transit rates but was never approved.

"The [$228 million] payment was made based on the contract, which stipulates a rate for transit of $1.45 [per 1,000 cubic meters per 100 km]," Kupriyanov said.

The payment was for November-December of 2009 and the first months of 2010, he said.

Kupriyanov said that Belarus considered it as an advance payment based on a new proposed but not approved transit rate of $1.88/1,000 cu m for 2010 and wanted Gazprom to pay the balance.

He added that Belarus's possible actions to disrupt the supplies would be "illegal," as the changes to the rate have not yet been enforced.

Kupriyanov confirmed that Gazprom received a $187 million payment from Beltransgaz for gas supplies in the first four months of 2010. Gazprom has said that Belarus owes it $192 million for the supply of gas in January-April.

Kupriyanov said the price structure for Beltransgaz's gas supplies from Russia includes components connected to the rate for gas transport via Belarus territory. He added that Beltransgaz used a transit rate of $1.88/1,000 cu m/100 km for this, which accounts for the difference between the amount paid and what Gazprom had said was owed.

He said Gazprom wouldn't immediately request that Belarus pay the difference and would instead wait until the transit rate has been agreed.

Early Thursday, Gazprom submitted documents fixing the new transit rate for 2010 to be signed by Beltransgaz's leadership, Kupriyanov said.

"A series of open questions remain concerning the relationship between Beltransgaz and Gazprom, and we will work on them," he added.

--Ekaterina Petelina, ekaternina_petelina@platts.com

--Jake Rudnitsky, jake_rudnitsky@platts.com