Russia’s electricity exporter on Wednesday cut off power supplies to neighbouring Belarus over an unpaid bill of $43m, putting additional pressure on the regime of president Alexander Lukashenko.
Russia’s Inter RAO said that electricity exports had been halted as of midnight, and would not be resumed until the bill was paid. Russian electricity accounts for about 12 per cent of Belarus’s power usage.
This is something that Russia tends to do. Not only in relation to electricity, but also for oil and gas. It appears to be a way that Russia can keep prodding their neighbours with a stick. Just to let them know who is in conrtol.
