Restrictions of electricity supply from Russia to Belarus, scheduled for Wednesday, June 29, has no political motive. This was stated by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ihor Sechin on June 28. According to him, it's a matter of interaction of energy companies. "There's no political agenda, work is being done at the corporate level <...> It's a matter of interaction between the two companies," said Ihor Sechin.
At the same time Russian Deputy Prime Minister notes that the restriction of electricity supplies from Russia will not affect the energy security of Kaliningrad region, RIA «Novosti.»
In addition, Ihor Sechin expects that Belarus to pay the debt for the Russian energy supplies in the near future, thus letting them operate in a regular mode. «We hope that all the payments will be made in the near future and the supplies will be resumed,» he said.
«The accumulated debt of Belarus for the electricity supply in March-May 2011 is about RUB1.2 billion (Br211.2 billion at the rate of the National Bank — Telegraf), which could grow another RUB400 million up (Br70.4 billion) in June,» stated Ihor Sechin.
As Telegraf previously reported, the Russian company Inter RAO is suspending the electricity supply to Belarus at 00:00 June 29, which is triggered by Belarus’s failure to pay off the debt for electricity supplied from Russia to the country.
«8:30 Moscow time, June 28, the required payment for electricity was still missing.» Inter RAO expects the Belarusian partners to repay the debt and the next payment in full,» said Russian official representative of the company.
In turn, Belarusian authorities claimed to have fully paid for the Russian electricity by June 28.
