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EBRD expected to provide $60 million for projects in Belarus this year

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expected to provide a total of around $60 million for projects in Belarus this year, Valdas Vitkauskas, head of the EBRD office in Minsk, said at an investment forum in Minsk on Thursday.

The bank provides support mainly to the private sector of the Belarusian economy, he said. The EBRD carries out a program of lending to Belarusian small and medium-sized businesses through six banks and the number may rise to seven or eight in 2010, according to Mr. Vitkauskas. More than 16,500 Belarusian companies have received loans worth a total of $224 million under the EBRD program since its launch.

The average amount of loans issued by the EBRD is EUR42 million in European countries, Mr. Vitkauskas said, adding that the bank had already lowered its minimum loan amount to EUR2 million. //BelaPAN