Another $500 mln from Putin: Finance Ministry gets second tranche of Russian loan
On Wednesday, the Belarusian Finance Ministry received the second tranche of the Russian loan. The tranche amounts to $500 mln.
“In line with the Belarusian-Russian intergovernmental agreement the equivalent of $0.5 billion was transferred to the account of the Finance Ministry on 2 June as the second tranche of the state financial loan,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes the ministry.
The agreement on Russia’s providig Belarus with a $1 bn loan was signed at the end of 2020. The first $500 mln tranche was disbursed on December, 30.
In the wake of the recent meeting of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the two leaders agreed on the transfer of $500 mln second tranche.
Lyubov Sobol, one of the leaders of the Russian opposition, sarcastically criticised the government’s decision.
“Lukashenka will receive a $500 mln loan from Moscow in the near future. But Tambov region, Voronezh or Vladivostok will not receive [money]. Why should they? Local schoolers will have to keep using pit toilets, it is not a big deal. The main thing is to help the neighbouring dictator at the expens of Russian citizens, ”she said.
A few days ago, Lukashenka said that the issue of shipping Russian oil to Belarusian oil refineries had also been settled during the meeting in Sochi. According to him, the Russian president ‘pledged uninterrupted oil supplies’.
belsat.eu
