Belarus said on Tuesday it will ask the International Monetary Fund for financial help and that Russia would extend about $6 billion to support the troubled economy of its western neighbour. "Belarus does not exclude the possibility of asking the IMF for credit support," the press service of President Alexander Lukashenko said, quoting Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikov.
The next IMF mission to Belarus is scheduled for June. Earlier on Tuesday, Lukashenko said that Russia was ready to provide the former Soviet republic with $6 billion in financial help. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to visit Minsk on Thursday. "We are conducting negotiations about a stabilisation loan to support the Belarussian rouble," Lukashenko's press office cited him as saying.
"They're ready to (provide) quickly, if we need it ... and it would be about $3.1 billion." The other $3 billion would come in expedited pre-payments for Belarussian goods sent to Russia, Lukashenko said. Last week, however, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Belarus could receive support only from a regional bailout fund, not directly from Moscow, and only in instalments of $1 billion a year.
Kudrin also advised Minsk to seek help from the IMF and start privatising state assets, because the loan itself would not be enough to lift the country out of its financial crisis. The statement from Lukashenko followed a telephone call with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The Kremlin, in a short statement, did not mention the prospect of any loans to Belarus.
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