Head of Department of tax policy and revenue budget of the Ministry of Finance Dmitri Kijko commented on the proposal of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to allocate credit to Minsk for Russian gas payment in 2011. "There is no urgent need for Belarus to take state credit for these purpose," he said.
As explained by the representative of the Finance Ministry, the Belarusian authorities initially planned to pay $ 240 per thousand cubic meters of gas in 2011 and, as he says, «the planned price while budgeting appeared to be a little more than the contract price,» BelTA informs. «Therefore, there is no acute problem with timely payment for Russian gas,» said Dmitri Kijko.
The specialist also assured reporters that Belarus would pay for Russian gas in a timely manner in 2011, adjusted for its cost growth.
As Telegraf previously reported, the Russian Prime Minister said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Mikhail Miasnikovich in Moscow on January 20 that Russia was ready to provide state support to Belarus in matters of gas deliveries, when needed.
Belarus Placed Eurobonds at Beneficial Interest, Finance Ministry
Representative of the Ministry of Finance also expressed disagreement with the statement that the latest Eurobonds worth $ 800 million were placed at high rates on January 19, 2011. «This issue is for seven years. Fixed Rate is 8.95% — it’s a convenient yield for us today,» he said.
In total, the Government of Belarus let the Ministry of Finance place bonds totaling $2 billion in 2010-2011. Last year, the Ministry of Finance placed Eurobonds for the sum of $1 billion. According to Dmitri Kijko, the financial department may place Eurobonds for another $ 200 million in the near future, and subsequently, might place bonds worth RUB8 billion (about $267.5 million) on the Russian market, provided for the favorable conditions.
