The Ministry of Finance is sending out money

Russia ends its history of debts to the Paris Club

Russia has begun practical steps to pay the debts of the former USSR to the Paris Club of creditors ahead of schedule. In recent days, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak has been putting one signature after another on the agreements necessary to begin the physical transfer of payments. On Monday in Berlin, he signed a document on early repayment of the debt of Germany (the main Russian creditor within the Paris Club) in the amount of 8.14 billion euros.

Yesterday in Moscow, the Deputy Minister recorded an important agreement with Finland, also related to the early repayment of the debt. At Finland's request, the neighboring countries agreed that part of the debt - $30 million out of just over $300 million - would be repaid by supplies of high-tech products, as well as services in the field of high technology and R&D. Payments to creditors have already begun. Yesterday, as Mr. Storchak reported, Russia transferred more than 1 billion euros to one of the countries. He did not name the recipient state. According to previously reached agreements, early repayment of debts to the Paris Club countries should be completed before August 21, and there is no reason to doubt otherwise.

Let us recall that an agreement in principle on the early payment of all remaining debt to the Paris Club in the amount of $22.3 billion with a premium (payment for the loss of interest payments by creditor countries) in the amount of $1 billion was reached in June of this year in Paris. This was preceded by long negotiations, during which Russian negotiators tried to persuade counterparties to take on the debt at par, as was the case last year. Then, let us remind you, Russia managed to agree on the early return of $15 billion to the Paris Club without any additional payment. However, this time the creditors did not make such a concession. However, according to financiers, even in this form the deal is beneficial to Russia: the premium is many times less than the amount that can be saved on interest payments. “Early repayment means that Russia will not make any interest payments for the next 14 years. In general, we are saving about 12 billion euros on early repayment of debts to the Paris Club,” says Mr. Storchak.

The Ministry of Finance expects to complete the signing of agreements with creditor countries as part of the early repayment of the debt of the former USSR to the Paris Club today. According to the deputy minister, signing with most creditor countries takes place by correspondence, but several countries insist on the physical presence of signatories. In this format, an agreement was signed with Denmark (the amount of debt is 120 million dollars in equivalent). In the same way, it is planned to sign with Switzerland ($65 million) and France ($1.8 billion).

Russia is negotiating with Portugal about the possibility of supplying Russian Be-200 amphibious aircraft to pay off the debt. “The likelihood that the Portuguese authorities will make a decision in favor of Russian aircraft is 90%,” Mr. Storchak is confident. He added that Portugal could purchase several vehicles in excess of the amount of debt ($81 million). In total, Russia convinces Portugal to take four aircraft.

Sergei Storchak noted that after the early repayment of the debt, Russia intends to actively work within the Paris Club as a creditor country. In this regard, he said that the Ministry of Finance plans to submit to the government a document by the end of the year, according to which Russia will have the opportunity to provide development loans to foreign countries. Currently, budget funds are allocated for these purposes. “We really hope that this year we will be able to submit this document to the government,” said the deputy minister.

However, Russia, as the legal successor of the USSR, owes not only to the countries of the Paris Club, but also to private companies. This debt is exchanged for Russian Eurobonds. The exchange of the first tranche of commercial debt of the former USSR was carried out in December 2002. Creditors' claims totaling $1.28 billion were admitted to the exchange. The second tranche, according to Mr. Storchak, is scheduled for the first half of September, the volume of reconciled and confirmed commercial debt is $600 million. The deputy minister did not say when the exchange will be completed. noting that this also depends on the creditors.

Mikhail VOROBYEV