China Gives Belarus $1 Billion In Trade Credits

China has given the cash-strapped Belarusian regime more than $1 billion in trade credits.

Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Anatol Tozik said an estimated $654 million of the total $1.05 billion credit will go toward building a modern wood pulp processing plant in the western city of Svietlahorsk.

Tozik said the Chinese credits will also pay for the overhaul of Belarus's western railroad and road networks.

The state-controlled Belarusian economy is trying to cope with a crisis that has forced a 36 percent devaluation of its currency.

It is seeking up to $8 billion from the International Monetary Fund and also expects to receive $1.2 billion in loans from a Russian-led fund designed to stabilize regional economies this year.

compiled from agency reports