Russia Ratifies Agreement and Protocol on Deferral of Belarusian Payments on Russian State Loans

Russia ratified an agreement and protocol concerning the deferral of payments by Belarus on Russian state loans. The Russian Parliament has completed the ratification of two Belarus-Russia documents aimed at amending the terms of several previously concluded agreements. The State Duma of Russia approved them on March 4, while the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament, ratified them on March 14, as reported by BELTA.

These documents pertain to the postponement of Belarus’ repayment obligations related to Russian state loans. The first document is an agreement between the governments of Belarus and Russia altering the terms of specific intergovernmental agreements, signed in Moscow on April 25, 2024. The second document is a protocol, signed in Moscow on July 11, 2024, which introduces amendments to the agreement of April 25.

As it was noted during the ratification process, these documents provide for the postponement of Belarus's principal debt payments from April 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, and the deferral of interest payments from July 1 to December 31, 2024, to the period between 2031 and 2036. Earlier, Deputy Minister of Finance of Russia, Vladimir Kulychev, specified that the total amount of payments eligible for deferral is approximately $800 million.