Russian company Inter RAO halted at midnight electricity supply to Belarus, because Minsk did not pay successive tranche of its debt of 600 million Russian rubles (21,3 million dollars).
– We have been waiting till 10 pm on Tuesday. Money has not been deposited. We are confirming that we have halted the entire electricity supply to Belarus at midnight on June 29th. As soon, as the debt is paid, we will resume energy supply to Belarus. – a representative of Inter RAO informed RIA Novostii news agency.
Igor Siechyn, a Russian deputy prime minister, informed journalists that he is expecting money owed by Belarus to be paid within next few days. Only than, the electricity supply will be resumed. Siechyn also informed that the debt for March – May period amounts to 1.2 billion Russian rubles. It will increase by additional 400 million rubles for electricity used in June. So far, Belarus has paid 8 million rubles, which constitutes barely 1.3% of its debt.
Belarus is able to replace Russian supply with the energy produced in its own power plants. However, domestic production is much more expensive than importing from Russia. Electricity delivered by Inter RAO constitutes 12% of the amount of energy used daily in Belarus.
Belsat
