A syndicate of four large Russian banks has provided a loan worth 6 billion rubles ($198 mln) to the Finance Ministry of Belarus, the banks said in a joint statement.

The syndicate comprises state-controlled Sberbank, VEB and Gazprombank, and the country's largest private credit institution, Alfa Bank.

"The Republic of Belarus is an important trade, economic and foreign policy partner of Russia. The syndicated credit to Belarus provided by Russia's leading banks will be used to develop integration and cooperation links between the two countries, and support stable growth in the Belarusian economy", the statement said.

The syndicate agent of the loan, which has a term of more than one year, is Sberbank.

Plans for the loan were announced during Sberbank CEO German Gref's visit to Belarus earlier this month.

MOSCOW, December 30 (RIA Novosti)