Belarus is getting ready to conclude negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, which would see it receive over $2 billion in financial support.

This amount would help ensure that the former Soviet republic is able to successfully weather the global financial meltdown. But more important than this for western investors looking for business opportunities in the East is the fact that any help from IMF will surely be tied to a commitment from President Alexander Lukashenko’s government to liberalize the country’s state-controlled economy.

The vast majority of businesses and real estate is in government hands, but an IMF deal would commit Belarus to changing a situation that is widely seen as economically backwards and untenable.

According to media reports, the IMF would also require that Belarus adjust its currency exchange rate before receiving the loan.

Officials in Minsk were quick to point out that while they expect to conclude negotiations related to the loan next month, they would only use the funds provided if absolutely necessary. In many ways, the loan would simply serve as a precaution, to be used if the economic crisis has major ripple effects in Belarus.

There is also a possibility that Belarus and Russia might seek to form an economic or currency union.

Russia had floated the idea in the past and Minsk appeared quite enthusiastic about it. In recent months, however, the former Soviet republic’s relationship with Moscow has cooled and it is not certain that Lukashenko would support such a currency union with a much more powerful Russian government.