⁍ A $1.5 billion loan from Russia will shore up Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for the time being as he tries to face down mass protests.

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⁍ Lukashenko secured the financial lifeline from Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Black Sea summit on Monday.

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⁍ The actual cash available to him – for example, to pay his police force or raise salaries to lure back striking workers – will be much smaller than the headline figure.

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⁍ According to Artyom Shraibman, a political analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, only a fraction of the funds will actually make it to Minsk.

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– After 26 years under the autocratic rule of Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus is having a hard time keeping its economy afloat. Gross domestic product fell 1.3% between January and August, according to state news agency Belta, and the central bank burned through $1.4 billion of its gold and foreign exchange reserves in August as it fought to shore up the rouble currency, reports Reuters. The country needs to refinance $1 billion in loans, including from Russia, and pay $300 million of debt to Russian energy giant Gazprom by the end of the year. “In reality this is money being transferred from one Russian pocket to another,” says Pavel Latko, a prominent member of the Belarusian opposition council. “Lukashenko is saved, economically speaking, for at least some time,” says Ryhor Astapenia of London’s Chatham House think-tank. “And Putin feels sure that Russian influence will increase in Belarus.” Astapenia says Lukashenko would have wanted more money from Russia at the Black Sea summit, but Putin “has to support him, because if he doesn’t, this regime will collapse. For the Kremlin this is a very dangerous example of what could be used in Russia. People will see that it’s possible to change leaders with mass protests.” Reuters reports Lukashenko secured a $1.5 billion loan from Russia at the summit.