Russia has promised to restore power to cash-strapped Belarus after receiving a late payment of 1.2 billion roubles (29.78 million Euros) owed for electricity supplied in March, April and May.

"I can confirm that power will be restored in full within two days," said Inter RAO spokesman Anton Nazarov late on Wednesday. The Russian power company had cut electricity to Belarus at midnight on Tuesday after a second deadline to pay the debt expired.

Russia's western neighbor - which is currently struggling with balance of payment problems that have caused it to devalue its currency - ran up arrears on the electricity imports.

Business not politics

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said on Tuesday that politics had nothing to do with the electricity dispute with Belarus.

Russian supplies accounts for about 12 percent of power consumed in Belarus, so the move was compensated for by shifting power generators.

But the move increased pressure on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. He is currently dealing with an economic crisis in his country which is one of the worst since he took office in 1994.

The relatively insignificant size of the sum involved illustrates the hardships confronting the former Soviet state.

Author: Andre Leslie, Joanna Impey (AFP, Reuters, dapd)
Editor: Michael Lawton