Posted: 30.06.2022 10:46:00

Belarus’ Finance Ministry will soon propose alternative payment schemes

“We will offer alternative payment schemes in the near future: i.e. propose to make an exchange – a new bond issue to replace the old one, which is quite practiced. It will be quoted in Dollars, but payments will be made, for example, in Belarusian Roubles. The new issue will make it possible to introduce a different payment scheme, bypassing a payment agent who fails to transfer money to investors,” Belarus’ Finance Minister Yuri Seliverstov informed.

According to Mr. Seliverstov, the Finance Ministry also studies a possibility of buying Belarusian securities ahead of schedule for those who will not receive their money due to blockages – ‘though with a discount’. “We are thinking over this discount, it will clearly be quite large, because – based on available data – the quotations of our securities are at the level of 18 percent of their nominal value. Investors should weigh in the decision," he explained.

Mr. Seliverstov noted that if a payment agent does not apply for resources, then, by analogy with how it is planned in the Russian Federation, Belarus will work with investors on a bilateral basis. “If investors contact us directly, then we will work with them on a bilateral basis. There are no thoughts that we should not pay and neglect all these investors. Meanwhile, we cannot work in the usual format because of such behaviour of systems," he stated.