BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

12/10/2007

Belarusian President Lukashenko criticizes Russia for failing to provide stabilization loan

MINSK. Oct 12 (Interfax) - Belarus was forced to take loans in the West, Japan and China after Russia declined to provide a stabilization loan, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said.

"Nine months went by but nobody [in Russia] gave us any loans, so we had to find money for settlements with monopolies. We are thankful to Westerners, to Japan and China, those countries lent us hundreds of millions of dollars at very favorable terms," he told a Friday press conference for the Russian regional press in Minsk.

Lukashenko recalled the understanding reached with the Russian leadership at the beginning of the year on a stabilization loan when the prices of hydrocarbons almost double at the beginning of 2007.

He also said that Belarus was dissatisfied with the cost of the loan proposed by Russia.

"To offer a government loan on market terms - it has never been so. China is providing us with funds at the rate of 1.5% to 3%, while Russia suggested 7% to 8%," the president said.

"We can borrow from Western banks. There is enough money in the world today. We have been assigned a good rating, a better one than Russia and Ukraine used to have. It is easier with loans now," Lukashenko said.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/5/323146/news.aspx