In such situation, Russia must stop lending to its EEU partners at least for a while, Deputy Finance Minister of Russia Sergey Storchak told a news conference.
"Russia's EEU partner-countries, mostly Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, are experiencing heavy economic situation. This may lead to a situation when these countries will not be able to fulfill their investments commitments to Moscow. The Russian Government, in turn, will have difficulties with the budget for the current year. Therefore, we will have to resort to a mechanism of austerity. The Cabinet can no longer afford loans to foreign countries," Storchak said.
In 2015, GDP of Russia fell 3.7% and the ruble depreciated 20.3%, as the prices of crude hydrocarbons - the main export item of Russia - fell by one-third.
The deputy minister said no decision has been adopted on the credit policy prospects yet, but Russia's economy needs additional financial reserves and can no longer afford loans to its partners.
On September 7 2015, Moscow adopted a decision to issue a $200-million concessional export loan to Armenia for increasing the range of modern weapons of the Armenian armed forces. On December 8, the Eurasian Stabilization Fund's board decided to extend a $126-million loan to Armenia to support the state budget and build water reservoir to enhance development of the agricultural sector.