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Russia cuts off electricity deliveries to Belarus

Russia’s Inter RAO cut off electricity deliveries to Belarus at 00:00 a.m. (Moscow time) on June 29 for its failure to pay the next installment of a $43-million debt, BelaPAN said.

“The installment had not arrived by 10 p.m. on Tuesday,” an Inter RAO spokesman told RIA Novosti. “We reiterate that we will temporarily suspend electricity deliveries to Belarus at 00:00 a.m. on June 29. We expect the payment to be made in a couple of days.”

Belarus was to pay 600 million rubels ($21.3 million) in the next installment to Russia.

While talking to reporters in Moscow no Tuesday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin denied that there were political motives behind Russia's plans to cut off the deliveries.

These "are absolutely market-economy processes: electricity deliveries must be paid for," RIA Novosti quoted the official as saying.

Belarus owes Russia's electricity exporter Inter RAO some 1.2 billion Russian rubles for deliveries made between March and May and the debt could rise by another 400 million rubles after the end of June, Mr. Sechin said.

As of June 24, Belarus had paid some eight million rubles, or just 1.3 percent of the debt, to Inter RAO, Mr. Sechin noted.

Speaking in St. Petersburg on June 23, Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich said that Belarus would repay in full its debt to Inter RAO until June 28.

On June 9, Inter RAO cut in half electricity exports to Belarus because of its failure to pay outstanding bills for deliveries in March and April.

Following talks held the next day by Belenerha Director General Alyaksey Shyrma in Moscow, Inter RAO fully restored the export of electricity to Belarus on June 13.

Power utility Belenerha paid the first installment of the debt later that week.

Under a contract with Inter RAO, Belenerha is to buy three billion kilowatts of electricity from Russia this year.