Belarus prepared a draft agreement to sell a state-owned 50% stake in Beltransgaz. This was stated by the representative of Belarus's government on May 24. According to him, Russia has already taken interest in buying these assets for $2.5 billion.
The source says that the intention to purchase shares of Beltransgaz was announced by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers in March. At the same time, he asked the Belarusian side not to make any additional terms for Russia.
According to a source, terms of Beltransgaz sale haven’t yet been determined.
Belarus, having recently faced with the financial crisis, hopes to resolve the situation with the acute shortage of foreign currency by $3.5 billion EurAsEC loan. But this year, Minsk will only get $1.2 billion in two tranches of $800 and $400.
Russian officials have stated earlier that Belarus should more actively sell state-owned enterprises to address the currency situation. Experts believe that it will take up to $10 billion for Belarus to resolve the situation.
