BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

21/10/2008

Russia's $2bn loan to Belarus for gas

Russia's Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin says the Kremlin will grant a $2 billion loan to Minsk to purchase Russian natural gas.

At least half the sum will be transferred to cash-strapped Belarus by the end of the current year. Without the loan, President Aleksander Lukashenko's autonomous Government would be at a loss for providing the people with heating in winter.

Belarus's dependency on its larger neighbor Russia, is cause for raised eyebrows within the European Union. Europe took a step to improve relations with Minsk, by lifting travel restrictions on Lukashenko and his top advisors last week, dpa reports.

The positive trend in relations kicked off after Lukashenko released political prisoners in summer. However, Europe's suspicions remain, after the Belarusian leader presided over a September national parliamentary vote electing a massive majority of Lukashenko supporters. It was a move that Europe criticized as undemocratic.

Source:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=72812§ionid=351020602

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