Russia tightening credit to Belarus due to crisis

Adviser for economic issues in the Russian embassy Andrei Kuznetsov said that the financial crisis would influence the requirements for granting a state credit to Belarus.

“The crisis will naturally influence the requirements for granting a state credit to Belarus. Because Russia has faced new conditions of attracting credits at the world market,” Kuznetsov noted in an interview to PRIME TASS.

“We are not interested in financial crisis in Belarus. We have a huge volume of trade. Russian enterprises are interested in sales market of component parts, and Belarusian enterprises are interested that the Russian market not to ruin and they can continue supplying products in the volumes, not less than before,” the diplomat added.

A. Kuznetsov also noted that there was a principal agreement of the Russian side on granting a loan.

“The sides are discussing technical requirements now, namely whether it will be a one-time or recoverable credit, its terms and interest rates. I think we will find a compromise, there are no insuperable things,” he added.

In 2007, Belarus and Russia agreed on a stabilisation state credit of 1.5 billion dollars. This sum was transferred to a currency account (in USD) of the Ministry of Finance of Belarus in the National Bank of Belarus by the end of December 2007.

The proceeds of the loan of USD 1.5 billion were granted in a single tranche for 15 years at the interest rate of LIBOR + 0.75 per cent. The payments for the loan are postponed by five years, but interests are to be paid. The sides said Belarus might get another state loan of 2 billion dollars in 2008.