Belarus invites Fitch to cooperate on assignment of sovereign rating

        Belarus will cooperate with the Fitch agency in the matter of assignment of sovereign credit rating, Chairman of the Board of the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Rumas told a press conference following up the Belarus-UK investment forum, which was held in London on 14 November, BelTA reports. "One of the results of the investment forum was an agreement with Fitch about the cooperation with the Belarusian government regarding the assignment of sovereign credit rating," said Sergei Rumas. According to him, additional independent evaluation by the European rating agency would strengthen the position of the Republic of Belarus on the international capital markets and provide potential investors with an alternative view on sovereign risk. The Economy Ministry also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership regarding the second tranche under the project in Belarus for a total of $80-100 million, said Sergei Rumas. In addition, an agreement was reached to start working on establishing the Belarus-UK Business Cooperation Council.