OREANDA-NEWS  On 08 June was announced, that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) increased the financial support for Belarus by USD 50 mln in 2009, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko said in a meeting with a delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors in Minsk.

“The relations between the EBRD and Belarus have been recently developing within the framework of the cooperation strategy 2006-2010,” Vladimir Semashko said.

“When speaking with the EBRD President in London on May 1, we agreed to expand the volume of operations in Belarus by the end of the year,” he stressed. On June 3, the Board of Directors decided on increasing the volume of operations to lend small and medium-sized business in Belarus by USD 50 million.

According to Vladimir Semashko, the main goal of the visit of the EBRD delegation is to study the situation in Belarus to prepare for a new cooperation strategy for 2010-2012.

“We have agreed to develop and coordinate the new strategy by the end of the year and start implementing it on January 1, 2010,” Vladimir Semashko said.

Sven Hegelund, Head of the delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors – Sweden’s Director on the EBRD, confirmed that the major goal of the visit is to consider all opportunities of expanding cooperation with Belarus.

“Today our cooperation is still limited by collaboration within small and medium-sized business,” he believes.

“In 2004, we failed to launch a constructive dialogue. Today we see Belarus’ concrete steps to improve the situation in the economy and politics. Less than a week ago the Bank decided to expand its financial activity with Belarus,” Sven Hegelund said.