ST.PETERSBURG, August 31 (AVN) - The Lenenergo energy provider reduced to the minimum power supplies to the administrative officers of the military compound in St. Petersburg's Kalininsky district on Friday, the Military News Agency learned.
The compound contains several important military installations subordinate to Moscow, namely the repair plan of the Defence Ministry's main missile and artillery department, warrant school and a training unit.
The Lenenergo JS warned the compound about the power cut in advance, Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Korotkevich, high-ranking official of the repair plant, told the Agency. It was done after the plant failed to meet its earlier obligations to pay back the debt for supplied energy by August 25. The military had to agree to pay a part of the debt from the wages fund. This news was made public to the plant's employees on Thursday, and it was a heavy blow to the people who had been paid regularly and in full in the past few years.
The plant owes Lenenergo RUR8.5m (USD288,720) and is unlikely to receive money for the debt repayment from Moscow earlier than late September, Korotkevich said. However RUR1m (USD33,970) are to be paid to the energy provider by September 5. There is no other way to obtain the money than to borrow it from the wages fund, as the plant does not receive federal allocations for any other purposes.
A similar situation occurred at the plant last year, when its debt made RUR7.6m (USD258,150). Then Lenenergo took more drastic measures, cutting off power supplies to residential houses, where some 1,000 servicemen, workers and their family members were living. This time the company only reduced power provision to administrative buildings, which will allow the plant to continue working. Besides, protection of the compound and functioning of vital installations will be ensured.