BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

12/11/2008

Belarus waiting on IMF loan decision

(RIGA) - Belarus expects the IMF to decide soon on a two-billion-dollar loan to help the former Soviet republic deal with the global financial crisis, Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said Wednesday.

"We expect a decision to come shortly," Sidorsky told reporters during a visit to neighbouring Latvia, his first official trip to an EU member state since Brussels lifted a visa ban on senior Belarussian officials last month.

Belarus, a politically isolated country with a command-style economy, announced on October 22 that it had applied to the International Monetary Fund for a loan.

The request was officially couched as being caused by a need to make up for the country's losses in exports because foreign countries were having trouble paying for them amid the global credit crunch.

Belarus is a major refiner of oil from Russia, which is shipped on to Western markets, as well as being a leading producer of agricultural fertiliser.

Sidorsky insisted that the global market turmoil had not otherwise had an impact on the Belarussian economy.

The IMF is due to send a mission to Belarus to discuss the loan request, which came amid signs of a thaw in relations between Belarus and the European Union.

Belarus, a nation of just under 10 million people, is ruled by autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994.

Lukashenko has been dubbed a dictator by the United States, but European officials have warned that continuing to isolate him could allow the country to fall further under the domination of Moscow, its Soviet-era master.

The EU last month suspended a visa ban on Lukashenko and his entourage after the release of political prisoners.

The ban still applies to several figures, including Belarus's top election official, after Western monitors said recent parliamentary polls fell short of acceptable standards.

Sidorsky met with his Latvian counterpart Ivars Godmanis in Riga on Wednesday.

Godmanis said Latvia would like to help build EU economic support for Belarus, and that the two leaders had discussed energy and transport links.

Latvia and Belarus enjoy relatively friendly ties, despite having followed very different political paths since independence from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991.

Latvia, a country of 2.3 million people, joined the EU and NATO in 2004.

Source:

http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1226508422.31

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