World Bank halts all packages in Russia, Belarus

The World Bank mentioned Wednesday it had stopped all packages in Russia and Belarus with instant impact, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and “hostilities against the people of Ukraine.”

In an announcement, the multilateral growth financial institution mentioned it had not authorized any new loans to or investments in Russia since 2014, the yr Russia annexed the Crimea area of Ukraine.

The financial institution mentioned it had not authorized any new lending to Belarus since mid-2020, when the United States imposed sanctions on the nation over a disputed presidential election.

The World Bank’s lending commitments to Belarus totalled $308 million in 2020, in accordance with the financial institution’s web site, with energetic tasks together with a biomass heating venture, forestry growth work and training modernisations. The World Bank has loaned greater than $16 billion to Russia because the early Nineties. The most up-to-date tasks authorized embrace a youth program within the North Caucasus in 2013 and a cultural heritage program courting again to 2010, the financial institution’s web site confirmed.

The resolution to halt all packages in Russia and Belarus got here a day after the leaders of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund mentioned they have been racing to supply billions of {dollars} of extra funding to Ukraine in coming weeks and months, warning the conflict might end in “significant spillovers” to different international locations.

The European Union, the United States, Britain and others have hit Russia with a variety of sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine. They have additionally imposed asset freezes, journey bans and different restrictions on quite a few Russian people together with President Vladimir Putin himself.Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation.”