Christmas time means miracles and gifts. Every wish made on the Christmas Eve will come true. The president of Belarus could not help taking such an opportunity. At the meeting of the Russia-Belarus Union State Supreme Council, Alexander Lukashenko expressed all his wishes and got what he wanted. Summing up, the president noted that Belarus has no requests for Russia left as all the issues were settled on the New Year’s Eve. The main present for Belarus was a $2 billion loan Russia granted. The president of the latter highlighted that this necessity arose due to the situation developing on the world markets. As you can see, the reason is extremely compelling. There is always something happening on the world markets, so that makes a great point to give another loan to the neighboring country. According to Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the maturity is 10 years. The money is likely to be allocated from the Russian National Wealth Fund, not the country’s Treasury. However, the sum can be changed. Head of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Alexei Ulyukaev said that the loan can total a little less, $1.5 billion. The method of payment has not been determined yet. Recently, Belarus has already received $3 billion from the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) headed by Russia. Nevertheless, this money was not enough. That is why, last autumn, President Lukashenko admitted that Minsk has asked Moscow for the financial aid. In December, the Russian National Wealth Fund promised about a $15 billion loan to another post-Soviet republic, Ukraine.
