Russia cuts power supply to Belarus over unpaid bills

Russia cuts power supply to Belarus over unpaid bills

2011-06-29 05:39:32 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) -- Russia on Wednesday cut off electricity supplies to Belarus until the ex-Soviet republic repays its 1.2-billion ruble ($43 million) debt, the Russian state power company Inter RAO said.

The state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported that Russia cut off electricity supplies to Belarus at midnight on Wednesday after Belarus failed to pay off its electricity debt for April and May.

"As of 10.00 p.m. Moscow time (18:00 GMT) no payment for electricity was made...We confirm that from June 29, at 00:00 Moscow time (June 28, 20:00 GMT) we completely cut electricity supplies to Belarus. We are waiting for Belarus to make the next payment in the next few days," an Inter RAO official said.

On Tuesday, Russia threatened to cut off power supplies to Belarus if Minsk failed to pay its debt in time. Inter RAO said on June 21 it had delayed cutting off power supplies until June 27 after negotiations, and later extended the deadline until midnight June 29.

Inter RAO halved electricity supplies to Belarus on June 9 as a warning and then threatened to cut off exports on June 22 as the Belarussian power utility Belenergo continued to run up debts amid an economic crisis in the former Soviet republic. Belenergo transferred 600 million rubles ($21.2 million) on June 15 as debt payment for March.

The Belarusian electricity debt occurred because of a currency crisis which is hampering all international transactions. Belarus says it has enough domestic currency, but the problem is converting it into hard-to-find international currency.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said the planned electricity supply cuts were not politically motivated.

Belarus meets about 10 percent of its electricity needs through Inter RAO supplies.

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