“Another government will have to return the Russian credit in 15 years”

Russia has already announced its intention to allocate a stabilizing credit of 2 billion dollars to our country. At the same time it has been informed that Belarus has asked the International Monetary Fund for the same sum of money. ERB has decided to find out on what terms Russians are going to allocate the credit to Belarus and how we will return it. According to an economist Leanid Zaika, the current government does not care about the way the money will be returned. If this credit is given for 15 years like the previous one, it will be returned by other people.

Leanіd Zaіka: “It is given for 15 years. I think our current government will have retired by the time. They will not have to give it back”.

The terms on which Russia will allocate the credit to Belarus are not clear as the agreement has not been signed yet, informs the adviser of the Belarusian Ministry of Finance Syarhei Zdanovich in an interview with ERB:

“There are no terms as there is no agreement. However, the decision to allocate the credit has been taken. The terms will be known when the agreement is signed. Now the issues are being discussed a lot”.

Leanіd Zaіka thinks that we do not need such big credits now. He wonders why we need the money taking this year’s excellent economic indexes of Belarus into account.

Leanіd Zaіka: “This year’s economic indexes are brilliant. The GDP has increased by 10% and the export has increased by 60%. It means that the currency earnings have increased by 60%. We have received more currency. Billions of dollars. The income of enterprises has increased by 75%. What do we need the credits for? It makes no sense at all”.

In Mr. Zaika’s opinion, the government is simply trying to collect more money on the quiet during the financial crisis.

Leanіd Zaіka: “Asking for money now means that the government cannot use the results of work of economic units. Does it mean the government has made some mistakes? It does not inform about it. It just wants to collect more money on the quiet during the financial crisis when everyone is talking about problems”.

According to an economic observer of “Belgazeta” Syarhei Zhbanau, we should bow down to Russia no matter what the Belarusian government will use the money for because it is our only reliable and cheap creditor.

Syarhei Zhbanau: “It is a present during the crisis anyway. We cannot create such a safety pillow from other sources. We do not have a queue of creditors willing to allocate money to us. Only Russia offers credits. We should thank them and bow down to them”. 

It is necessary to note that the previous Russian credit was given for 15 years with a 5-year indulgence with the LIBOR rate plus 0.75%. Thus, there will be two or even three billions on our accounts if the IMF agrees to allocate us 2 billion dollars alongside with the Russian government.