OREANDA-NEWS. May 21, 2012. Belarus-based OJSC Belaruskali has opted for an early repayment of the USD 1bn loan provided by Russia’s Sberbank, a source in the Belarusian government told reporters.

Russia’s Sberbank and the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) signed a USD 1bn syndicated loan agreement with Belarus’ potash producer Belaruskali. The one-year deal was signed in Minsk on November 18, with Sberbank acting as the organizer and the agent for the syndicated loan.

Sberbank provided USD 900 million of the total amount and the remaining USD 100 million was allocated by the Eurasian Development Bank. Belarus’ government transferred USD 800 million from the USD 1 bn syndicated loan provided to Belaruskali by Russia’s Sberbank and the Eurasian Development Bank to the country’s foreign exchange and gold reserves.

As previously reported, in Mach 2012 Russia’s state-run Sberbank proposed to refinance a loan provided to Belarus’ state-owned potash producer Belaruskali, however Belarus rejected the offer.