Russia gives Belarus $700 million loan ‘to strengthen friendly relations’
The authorities of Belarus announced the receipt of a Russian-allocated loan of $700 million.
"On September 15, 2017, the state financial loan from the Russian Federation was fully credited to the Ministry of Finance’s account," the Belarusian Ministry of Finance reported.
The loan is granted to the republic for a ten-year period. In the order signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev it was noted that the money was allocated "in order to strengthen further friendly relations” and to allow the repayment of the previous Russian loans.
At the end of 2016, according to the Russian Central Bank, Belarus's total debt to Russia was almost $6.4 billion. In 2017, Minsk had to return, $741 million including interest, but in January-April it was only able to repay $120 million.