Russian president orders power supplies to be resumed to Belarus

[News_Editor]

Russian president orders power supplies to be resumed to Belarus

2011-07-02 23:20:31 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered power supplies to be resumed to Belarus after the former Soviet neighbor paid its electricity debt, the president's spokeswoman said on Saturday.

According to the state-run news agency RIA Novosti, Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalia Timakova said the president gave the order after a telephone conversation on Saturday with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin who reported that Belarus had paid off its debts for April and May.

"Considering that Minsk [the capital of Belarus] has met its financial obligations, the president ordered power supplies to be resumed to Belarus as stipulated by the contracts," Timakova said.

The Russian state power company Inter RAO on Wednesday cut off electricity supplies to Belarus after Minsk failed to pay its 1.2-billion ruble ($43 million) debt. 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.

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.

Belarus meets about 12 percent of its electricity needs through Inter RAO supplies.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-07-02