Lukashenko says will not ask Putin for new loan at Sochi meeting

<p> MINSK, Feb 18 - PrimePress. Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko says he is not going to not ask Russian President Vladimir Putin for a loan at an upcoming meeting. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Lukashenko said this on 18 February during a meeting with State Secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota, Lukashenko’s press service said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “Indeed, Putin and I agreed to meet somewhere around 20 February and talk about some areas of our cooperation. But I want to say something now: as it always happens in Russia, rumours are circulating regarding the agenda. Now they are speculating that ‘Lukashenko is coming to ask for as much as $3 billion’. This is not true. I am not going there to ask for something,” said Lukashenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “You know that we have signed the documents on the supply of hydrocarbons this year, which is a sensitive issue for us, common markets. We didn't ask for anything or argued at all. If Russia believes that the level of our economic cooperation should be this high, then it will be so. What's there to ask for? The liberals in Russia are not up to speed on the sensitive issues that we are discussing. We are not going to ask for anything,” said Lukashenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> President Lukashenko said that he is set to meet with Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to Russia. “There will be a meeting with Medvedev. There is such an agreement. We will discuss the most pressing issues that we are concerned about today. Defence, security of our state are more important issues,” said Lukashenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported with reference to Russian mass media, Lukashenko is going to ask Putin for $3-3.5 billion from the unused part of the Russian $10 billion state loan for the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (Astravyets District, Grodno Oblast). </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on September 14, 2020 that Russia would lend Belarus $1.5 billion. In October 2020, Belarus received a $500 million loan from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD). On December 21, a Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreement was signed in Moscow to provide Minsk with two tranches of the Russian state loan in Russian rubles in the equivalent of $500 million each. The first tranche was transferred to Belarus on 30 December; Belarus expects to receive the second tranche in the first half of 2021. End </p>

2021-02-19

Primepress