Russia to provide Belarus with $ 1 billion loan

Belarus will receive a $ 1 billion loan from Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said on Sunday evening on Belarusian state television. However, he did not give detailed information about the new agreements between Moscow and Minsk.

On April 3, after a meeting in St. Petersburg with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Moscow is ready to refinance its neighbor's debt this year. “It is possible to refinance the debt, subject to the repayment of loans in the current year. This is about 750-780 million dollars, which includes debt and interest. "

The Russian side believes that Minsk owes it 720 million dollars due to the underpayment for the supplied gas. Over the past year, the Belarusian authorities argued that they should pay a lower price than specified in the contract with Gazprom ($ 132 per 1,000 m3), citing a bilateral agreement within the Union State of Russia and Belarus, as well as lower prices for raw materials in the world. markets. Moscow does not recognize these arguments, and demanded in response to cut oil supplies to Belarus.

After meeting on Monday, Putin and Lukashenko announced the end of the gas dispute between the two countries. Semashko also said in an interview on Sunday that Minsk expects to pay the third and fourth tranches of the loan from the Eurasian Development and Stabilization Fund "on very favorable terms."

In accordance with the agreement of the Belarusian government with the Eurasian Development Bank in 2016, Minsk is to receive a loan of $ 2 billion from the Eurasian Fund in seven tranches. However, after Belarus received $ 500 million, the payment of tranches was suspended last fall. Independent media associate this with constant disputes over raw materials between Minsk and Moscow.