Belarus Plans to Raise 100 Billion Rubles in Russian Bond Sale

(Bloomberg) --

Belarus plans to sell as much as 100 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) of bonds in Russia as the government looks for ways to prop up an economy reeling from a political crisis and Western sanctions.

The former Soviet republic’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, instructed the government to sell debt with a minimum maturity of three years over the next two-and-a-half years, according to a decree published on the national legal website.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has previously relied on Russia for financial support in return for his political allegiance.

The decision to sell debt in Russia comes after the yield on Belarussian 10-year Eurobonds climbed 108 basis points to 7.23% this year. The U.S. imposed sanctions on state-owned Belarusian petrochemical companies in April to punish human-rights abuses, adding to action taken against Lukashenko’s regime by the European Union, the U.K. and Canada last year.

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