Belarus to contribute $10 Mln to EurAsEc anti-crisis fund
MINSK. June 15 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has ordered the allocation of $10 million for the anti-crisis fund of the Eurasian Economic Community, the Belarusian Finance Ministry said.
According to the presidential order dated June 9, Belarus will transfer $1 million in the first installment, and the remainder [$9 million] will be paid in the form of an ordinary bill.
It was reported earlier that the EurAsEc anti-crisis fund will be formed in the amount of $10 billion. The majority of the fund's authorized capital will be contributed by Russia ($7.5 billion) and by Kazakhstan ($1 billion).
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who was appointed as chairman of the fund's council, says this structure could start working in September 2009. About two months will be needed for the EurAsEc member states to ratify the decision to set up the fund. Once ratified by all parties, the process of creating the fund will begin. Each party will be required to transfer 10% of its contribution within six months.
Belarus can get the $500 million initially offered by Russia as a state loan from the EurAsEc fund, Kudrin also said.
EurAsEc consists of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine are observer states.
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