Russia’s loans to Belarus will total $630-640m by end of 2022 – Putin

<p> MINSK, Sep 9 - PrimePress. Russia’s loans to Belarus for the period fr om September 2021 and until the end of 2022 will amount to about $630-640 million, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday following negotiations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “The total volume of loans from September this year to the end of 2022 will be somewhere around $630 million, maybe $640 million,” said Putin. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Putin noted that the governments of Russia and Belarus are negotiating these loans. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Lukashenko, for his part, said that he had not asked Russia for new loans for Belarus. However, he recalled that he had earlier offered Putin to provide savings from the loan for the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (Astravyets, Grodno Oblast), if any, and said that he continued counting on them. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on 8 Sep 2021 that Moscow allows the possibility of granting stabilizing financial support to Belarus if necessary, as Minsk currently finds itself in a difficult financial situation. </p> <p>   </p> <p> EDB CEO Nikolay Podguzov said on 2 Sep 2021 that the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) operated by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) was holding preliminary consultations with the Belarusian authorities on the content the program matrix of measures that can be supported with an EFSD loan, however it was still premature to talk about the amount of the loan and the specific timing of its disbursement. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Lukashenko said on 9 August that he had asked the Russian leadership for a loan from the Eurasian Development Bank. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The Russian news agency RBC reported on 8 September, on the eve of the meeting between Lukashenko and Putin, citing two anonymous sources in the Belarusian government, that the Belarusian authorities were discussing the possibility of drawing a loan of up to $3 billion from the EFSD partially or fully. Currently, the lim it of EFSD credit resources for Belarus is about $1.98 billion, and it has been completely used up. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Russia last provided Belarus with an interstate loan of $1 billion in the equivalent of Russian roubles in 2020. The first tranche arrived in December 2020, and the second in June 2021. This loan allowed Belarus to partially repay its previous debts to Russia. In 2020, Belarus also received $500 million from the EFSD for COVID-19 response and support for vulnerable groups. End </p>

2021-09-10

Primepress