Moscow has difficulty financing the Belarusian regime.
The government of Belarus expects the country’s budget to receive $ 110 mln Russian loan soon. Experts keep wondering why the amount turned out to be so modest and whether the loan will solve the economic problems of Belarus, nr2.com.ua reports.
On March 27 the Finance Ministries of Belarus and Russia signed an agreement on the financial support of our country. The agreement provides for the allocation a sum of money in Russian rubles equivalent to $110 mln for a period of 10 years, including a 4-year grace period, said the Belarusian Ministry of Finance.
At that, the report by the Russian government noted that the lack of overdue debts to Russia and the anti-crisis fund of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEC) was among the conditions.
The allocation of the loan was preceded by the statement by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that Russia ‘will continue existing credit commitments’ providing that ‘the Belarusian friends’ promptly solve problems in trade and economy field. The both sides failed to specify which commitments will be continued.
Belarus counted on receiving $ 2.5 bn from Russia, stating that it is the closed ties with Russia that caused the economic problems of Belarus. In particular, according to the Belarusian authorities, only after the devaluation of the Russian ruble, the country lost more than $700 mln. In addition, Russia’s demand for Belarusian goods decreased, Russia imposed restrictions on imports of Belarusian food products, oil and oil products went down, which led to reduction in customs duties in the Belarusian budget.
Experts estimate that a budget hole is at least $2 bn. $110 mln do not solve the problem, they say. Why has Russia become so ‘greedy’? Maybe due to a great number of its own economic problems and Minsk’s failure to stand by its earlier promises.
