National Assembly ratifies two credits for $9.11 million in purchase from Belarus of machinery and equipment they will use for road maintenance and municipal cleaning
As the flow of external funding from multilateral agencies continues to decline, the Ortega Murillo regime tries to replace this support with its new political allies that, with the exception of China, do not lend large sums for large projects, but small amounts. Under this scheme, the National Assembly approved two individual credit agreements that together add up to $9.11 million to be awarded by the Development Bank of Belarus; a country ruled by Alexander Lukashenko, considered Europe’s last dictator.
The resources, according to the approval decree, will be used to provide the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) with 100 machines for the construction and maintenance of roads and roads at the national level. That is, they are not actually going to give money but to sell machinery and the agreement is to formalize the payment mechanism.
The loan approval initiative states that on 13 June the MTI signed a delivery contract with the exporting company JSC AMKODOR holding company managing Company and another with the exporting company Belautomaz for the purchase of the machinery.
Memorandum includes 700 teams
The credit approval decree details that the Individual Credit Convention number 3 is $4.47 million that will be paid within five years, with a grace period of 18 months and a 3.45 percent interest rate; this loan will have insurance that will cost $385.790. The Number 5 Individual Credit Agreement is $4.63 million, will also be paid within five years, with an 18-month grace period and an interest rate of 3.45 percent and insurance will cost $40,024.
These two loans are the first to be made after the signing last April of the memorandum of understanding between companies in the Republic of Belarus and Nicaragua. The signing was made as part of a visit to Nicaragua by a delegation headed by Alexander Egorov, deputy head of the administration of President Alexander Lukashenko. Both credits are part of a $100 million credit line to acquire technology, machinery and equipment, which in 2023 Belarus opened to Nicaragua.
The ratification of these two loans is the beginning of a commercial relationship with Belarus, as these first two credits are to finance the acquisition of 100 machinery. But last April, when they signed these memoranda, the regime officials said that, among other things, they established Nicaragua’s purchase of seven hundred equipment and machinery, which several ministries and mayors will use to maintain the roads and carry out the cleaning in the municipalities.
Belarus large exporter of machinery
This trade relationship arises as the flow of resources from multilateral agencies continues to decrease, as since 2021 most multilaterals do not approve new credits to Nicaragua and are only disbursing the resources agreed upon. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is the only one that has continued to approve financing, however, not in large amounts to finance projects, but only small amounts in technical assistance.
According to specialized media, machinery and equipment, including tractors, are the fifth most important product of the Belarus export basket, which in the top four places on the list includes fertilizers, refined oil, rapeseed oil and sawn timber.
According to information released on the website of the Belarus Embassy in Cuba, Nicaragua established relations with that country in 1994. However, it was until 2013 that both countries appointed honorary consuls and the mutual accreditation of ambassadors took place until 2021.
In May 2021 Nicaragua appointed Alba Azucena Torres Mejía, concurrent ambassador to Belarus. For his part, from March 2022, the Belarusian ambassador to Cuba, Valery Baranovsky, assumed the position of concurrent ambassador for Nicaragua.
This article has been translated after first appearing in La PrensaNi