The World Bank had suspended all programs in Russia and Belarus with immediate effectfollowing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the “hostilities against the people of Ukraine”, the bank announced Wednesday.
In a press release, the multilateral development bank said he had not approved any new loans or investments in Russia since 2014, the year Russia annexed Crimea region of Ukraine.
the bank said he had not approved any new loan to Belarus since mid-2020 when US imposed sanctions on the country over a contested presidential election.
World Bank loan commitments to Belarus amounted to 308 millions of dollars in 2020, according to the bankit is website, with active projects, including a biomass boiler projectforesterie development work and modernizations in education.
The World Bank lent more more than $16 billion to Russia since the early 1990s. Most recent projects approved include a youth project program in the North Caucasus in 2013 and a cultural heritage program meet back in 2010, the bank is website show.
the decision stop everything programs in Russia and Belarus came a day after leaders of the World Bank and the Monetary Fund international said they were rushing to provide billions of dollars of additional funding to Ukraine in weeks and months to come, warning the war could result in “significant fallout” on others countries.
The European Union, the United States, Great Britain and others have hit Russia with a wide range of sanctions after invading Ukraine.
They have also imposed asset freeze, trip bans and other limitations on many Russians, including President Vladimir Putin. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military transaction.”
