OREANDA-NEWS. On 08 April 2009 was announced, that Belarus may soon lift the ban on down payments for imports from Russia, the National Bank of Belarus (NBB) is expected to prepare a relevant resolution soon, a source close to the government told.

“It is planned that the NBB will amend its resolution #165. Down payment limitations may be lifted for imports from Russia. The document will be issued very soon,” the source said.

According to him, the move will help remove barriers in trade with Russia. “The Russian central bank never banned down payments, so we are working in different competitive conditions,” the source said.

A representative in the NBB told Prime-Tass the government had indeed instructed the central bank to consider lifting the ban, but he did not comment on the possible timeframe.

Spokesman for the NBB, Anatoly Drozdov said it was premature to speak about the abolition of restrictions.

“Those were temporary measures, and we allowed exclusions, like down payments from foreign exchange receipts. But we still observe a balance of payments deficit, which could have been bigger if we had failed to restrict advance payments,” Drozdov said.

A representative with Russia’s trade mission to Belarus told Prime-Tass Belarus and Russia were involved in talks over the abolition of the ban on down payments.

Belarus has abolished the 15% preferential index for domestic goods, while Russia introduced a preferential margin for its products during procurement tenders. Belarus wishes the national treatment were applied to its products to equalize tendering and procurement conditions, the source said.