Belarus requests $9 billion as Putin visits

Belarus requested a nine billion dollar loan yesterday from Russia, seeking to mend fences with Moscow after an outburst from its President, as Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Minsk. Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, travelling with Prime Minister Putin, said Moscow was examining the request for a nine-billion-dollar (€6.5billion) credit line to build a nuclear power station.

But Mr Kudrin carefully held back from promising to extend the credit in a sign of a continued chill in ties between Moscow and Minsk after recent overtures between Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and the European Union.

"To begin providing credit we need to be sure this station will be built, that there will be a definite sales market for the electrical energy," he said.

"Belarus has made a request. But it is still too early to talk about Russia giving credit for the power station."