Azernews.Az

MINSK – Russia cut electricity to Belarus over unpaid bills on Wednesday, raising the pressure on its neighbor's faltering economy, AP reported.

Imports of Russian electricity account for only about 10 percent of Belarus' needs, but, even before Wednesday's cutoff, Belarus was suffering its worst financial crisis since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

The government, which is under tremendous pressure from a series of protests, recently devalued the national currency, causing panic buying of goods and huge lines at currency exchange offices.

Lyudmila Zenkovich, a spokeswoman for the Belarusian Energy Ministry, said that it's not clear when Belarus will be able to pay off the debt as the country's currency reserves are running low. As of early June, Belarus owed Russia about 1.5 billion Russian rubles ($54 million) in back payments.

Russia has traditionally been Belarus' main sponsor and ally, but it phased out economic subsidies in recent years as it pushed for control of Belarus' industrial facilities. Last week, Moscow provided Belarus with an $800 million emergency loan, but it fell well short of Belarus' requirements.

Independent experts say Belarus quickly needs at least $9 billion in loans to stabilize its finances.

The crisis has eroded the power of Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has run the nation of 10 million with an iron fist for 17 years, earning the nickname of "Europe's last dictator" in the West.

A poll conducted earlier this month by the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Research said Lukashenko's approval ratings dropped from 53 percent last fall to 29 percent. The poll of 1,503 respondents had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Social media activists have organized a series of weekly rallies, which attracted thousands of mostly young participants clapping their hands and stomping their feet to protest the government's economic course. Police disbanded the gatherings in Minsk and other Belarusian cities and detained more than 450 people after last week's rallly.

Another such protest is set for Wednesday.

Trying to prevent the protests from growing, the Belarusian Defense Ministry issued a statement warning that half of those detained during the past rally were draft dodgers who will be conscripted.

The organizers of the protests braved the threats, calling on participants to show that "there are more of us than police cars can carry."