Uzbekistan will receive a $380 million concessional loan from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), and a $43 million loan from the United Nations-backed Green Climate Fund (GFC), the world’s largest climate finance institution.

Mauro Longobardo, the plant’s CEO, said resource “rent” on iron ore mining would place an insurmountable burden.

Lukashenko, defiant, vowed the "bastards on the other side of the border” would not succeed.

Kazakhstan issues 5, 7, and 10-year sovereign bond issues worth $554 million (10 billion Russian roubles) on Moscow, Astana (Kazakhstan) exchanges.