Russian Finance Ministry: Belarusian Economy’s Subsidizing Finished

Russia in fact subsidized the economy of Belarus by cheap gas deliveries in recent years, as “issues of oil export duties at resale of oil products by Belarus haven’t been solved”, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov stated today in the State Duma.

“We have settled these issues to a large extent over the recent years, by adopting a program of increasing gas prices and solving the problem of oil duties,” said Deputy Finance Minister.

As we have informed, in December 2007 Russia agreed with Belarus on granting a stabilization credit of 1.5 billion dollars for 15 years.

The deputy minister noted that Belarus services loans from Russia without any delays.

“Speaking about credits received by Belarus, the state serves the debts on time. That is why we cannot speak about gratuitousness of this support,” Shatalov stated on Friday, March 7.