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Kazakhstan ready to help Belarus out of crisis, Nazarbayev says

Kazakhstan and Russia are ready to help Belarus, its partner in the Customs Union, out of an economic crisis, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Saturday, according to RIA Novosti.

“One member of the Customs Union, Belarus, is experiencing very difficult conditions,” said Mr. Nazarbayev. “I think Kazakhstan and Russia could support Belarus if it, of course, makes steps forward in response.”

“We could make relevant investments in the modernization and privatization of major Belarusian assets for which they could get a nice sum of money to deal with their current problems,” he said.

On June 4, the board of the Russian-controlled Anti-crisis Fund of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) approved a $3-billion loan for Belarus to be disbursed in six tranches within three calendar years.

Russian Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin told reporters in St. Petersburg on Thursday that the first tranche of the loan, $800 million, might be made available this month.

Mr. Kudrin reiterated that one of the conditions for the loan was the sale of state assets to earn funds improve Belarus’ balance of payments. //BelaPAN