Russia
will grant Serbia
a $1 billion (680-million-euro) loan to cover the Balkan country’s budget
deficit and invest in infrastructure, officials said yesterday, in a deal that
could extend Russia’s
influence in the region.
The deal is expected to be signed during a
visit to Serbia
by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on October 20 – the first ever visit by a
Russian president to the Balkan country.
Russia
’s Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin said that up to
$350 million, to be available this year, will be used to finance Serbia’s budget
deficit.
The remaining $650 million, to be provided
next year, will be used to build a subway in Belgrade
and construct a ring road around the capital, Kudrin said during the World Bank
annual meeting in Istanbul,
Turkey.
“We were not among the countries for which
Russia has approved loans
for this year, but Kudrin has promised me that Russia
will make an exception for Serbia,”
Serbia’s
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic said.
Loaning money to Serbia could enhance Russia’s
clout in the Balkans, where Moscow’s interests
include the South Stream gas pipeline that would bring Russian gas from the
Black Sea to Europe. The route across the
Balkans, including Serbia,
would avoid Ukraine, with
which Russia
has pricing and political disputes.
“The fact is that Russia is granting Serbia
a loan even though its own economy is struggling amid the global financial
crisis,” said Milan Culibrk, chief editor of Belgrade’s Ekonomist magazine. “I fear that
the conditions for the credit will not be favorable for Serbia.” By
contrast, Russia has
reportedly refused to give additional credits to Ukraine
and Belarus because Moscow assessed that the
two former Soviet states’ economies are not strong enough to service the debt.
Serbia
’s Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said the World Bank
has promised an additional $400 million to Serbia,
half to fill the budget gap and half for the construction of a major highway
through Serbia linking Hungary with Bulgaria.
The International Monetary Fund has
postponed giving the Balkan country access to additional funds from a
2.8-billion-euro standby loan granted in March, demanding details on how Serbia plans to
finance its growing budget deficit amid the global financial crisis.
Serbia
promised to lay off about one-fifth of its government employees –
14,000 people – to meet conditions set by the IMF to receive more financial
aid, Dragutinovic has said.
She said the IMF insists that the 2010
budget deficit be no more than 3.5 percent of gross domestic product. Serbia had
proposed it be 4 percent of GDP and is now running a 4.5 percent deficit.
New talks between the IMF and Serbia are expected to start in Belgrade on October 20.
(από την εφημερίδα «Ε-
Kathimerini», 8/10/2009)