Some of Russia's $1.5 bln loan to refinance Belarusian debt - Lukashenko
MINSK. Sept 17 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that Russia will give Belarus a $1.5 billion loan at his request and some of the funds will refinance the Belarusian debt.
"I should tell you that it was my insistent request. The prime minister and the finance minister proposed that we repay this loan: we were due to pay them [Russia] a billion from the previous debt this year," the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.
"We were ready to pay the billion despite those difficulties. This is not a new loan. It was my request to the Russian leadership to allow us not to pay them the billion this year, to keep it, and to postpone [the payment] until next year," Lukashenko said.
"The interest is acceptable. This is the question of refinancing," he added.