MOSCOW, December 2 /TASS/. The Russian Finance Ministry may borrow more than 500 billion rubles (9.3 billion US dollars) from the country’s Reserve Fund to cover the needs in 2015, Maxim Oreshkin, director of the Ministry’s long-term strategic planning department, told journalists on Tuesday.

“The Reserve Fund will be our main protection next year. A decision to use the Reserve Fund is a solved case. The question is to what degree and in what amount,” Oreshkin said adding the sum might exceed 500 billion rubles (9.3 billion US dollars) under certain scenarios.

The Federation Council, the upper house of Russian parliament, approved the 2015-2017 Russian budget last week noting it was possible to direct up to 500 billion rubles (9.3 billion US dollars) from the Reserve Fund to replenish the deficient revenues and state borrowing if they emerge in the course of the budget’s implementation.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the Finance Ministry would be forced to use those funds if the negative dynamics of oil prices and the ruble rate continued into 2015.

For her part, Tatyana Nesterenko, Russia’s first deputy finance minister, did not rule out that the Finance Ministry might need similar sums in 2016-2017.

“In terms of budget policy, there are risks: we expect to spend about 1.5 trillion rubles (27.7 billion US dollars), almost half of the Reserve Fund, in the course of three years,” Nesterenko said.