Belarus will channel about $330 million of a new $1.5 billion loan from Russia to cover its outstanding debt to Russian gas giant Gazprom, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted as saying by TASS on September 20.
Russia will send Belarus the first $1 billion tranche of a $1.5 billion loan by the end of the year and provide the remainder of the loan in 2021.
The loan would help Belarus and its state companies honor their debt obligations and support financial stability in the ex-Soviet country, Siluanov said earlier this week.
The loan was agreed during a meeting on September 14 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his embattled Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The meeting was the first between the two leaders since a wave of daily demonstrations demanding Lukashenka's resignation erupted following his disputed reelection in an August 9 poll.
Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS
