Russia refused to give Belarus a $ 1.5 bln loan. The Belarusian goverment planned to use it in order to „stabilize the country’s economy“. With Russia driving up the prices for gas and oil, the Belarusian gorernment was forced to subsidize the state-owned refineries and the plants, which use a significant amoung of gas in their production. The Russian side believes, that the reasons the Belarusian government provided explaining the need to receive such a loan, are not consistent with the principles of the Word Trade Organisation, which Russia plans to join in the nearest future.
Moscow proposed the Finance Ministry of Belarus to prepare a new motivation for the loan application.
The Kremlin is obviously not in a rush with its decision about providing the huge loan. Belarus asked for it in the end of February. Since then the loan issue has become a matter of the endless political trade between two countries, better to say – between two regimes. In order to please Putin’s cabinet, Belarus has already made several concessions. It lifted the limitations on the Russian export, introduced after the last year’s gas and oil conflict, backed off in the isse of the sugar trade. Nevertheless, Russia is still not sure, whether to help the „brother country“ with money.
Perhaps, the Kremlin wants to punish the less and less cooperative Belarusian regime and force it to cooperate. Russia can also have some purely economic reasons for its hesitation in providing the loan. The fact is, that if the $ 1,5 bln are used to subsidize the inefficient Belarusian plants and keep the inflation at bay, there is a chance that when the money has been spent, Belarus will have to ask for another loan, or collapse. If Russia want’s to have it’s money back, it will have to insist that the Belarusian government invests it reasonably. Or, the Belarusian government has to provide the shares in the major refineries and the most successful enterrises, the apple of Likashenka’s eye. In this case, Kremlin might even be interested in Belarus failing to fulfill its commitments and thus allowing Russia to get hold of its blue chips.
Russia refused to give Belarus a $ 1.5 bln loan. The Belarusian goverment planned to use it in order to „stabilize the country’s economy“. With Russia driving up the prices for gas and oil, the Belarusian gorernment was forced to subsidize the state-owned refineries and the plants, which use a significant amoung of gas in their production. The Russian side believes, that the reasons the Belarusian government provided explaining the need to receive such a loan, are not consistent with the principles of the Word Trade Organisation, which Russia plans to join in the nearest future.
Moscow proposed the Finance Ministry of Belarus to prepare a new motivation for the loan application.
The Kremlin is obviously not in a rush with its decision about providing the huge loan. Belarus asked for it in the end of February. Since then the loan issue has become a matter of the endless political trade between two countries, better to say – between two regimes. In order to please Putin’s cabinet, Belarus has already made several concessions. It lifted the limitations on the Russian export, introduced after the last year’s gas and oil conflict, backed off in the isse of the sugar trade. Nevertheless, Russia is still not sure, whether to help the „brother country“ with money.
Perhaps, the Kremlin wants to punish the less and less cooperative Belarusian regime and force it to cooperate. Russia can also have some purely economic reasons for its hesitation in providing the loan. The fact is, that if the $ 1,5 bln are used to subsidize the inefficient Belarusian plants and keep the inflation at bay, there is a chance that when the money has been spent, Belarus will have to ask for another loan, or collapse. If Russia want’s to have it’s money back, it will have to insist that the Belarusian government invests it reasonably. Or, the Belarusian government has to provide the shares in the major refineries and the most successful enterrises, the apple of Likashenka’s eye. In this case, Kremlin might even be interested in Belarus failing to fulfill its commitments and thus allowing Russia to get hold of its blue chips.
Some of the most lucrative Belarusian enterprises:
