Greek Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis said that the country will not transfer €1.6 billion to the IMF, the payment of which was planned in June. The statement comes amid unsuccessful Athens negotiations on new loans at the EU summit in Riga

Greek Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis (Photo: Global Look Press)

“The €1.6 billion that Greece must pay to the International Monetary Fund in June will not be paid because the country does not have that kind of money,” Reuters quotes Voutsis as saying on Greek Mega TV.

Vatsis noted that Greece is negotiating new loans based on “cautious optimism” and in the hope that an agreement will be reached soon.

Earlier this week it was reported that negotiations between Greece and representatives of France and Germany on new loans at the EU summit in Riga ended without results. The talk was about providing the country with a tranche in the amount of €7.2 billion. Observers note that the confrontation between Athens and the ECB could lead to the country’s authorities declaring a default, which, in turn, increases the risk of Greece leaving the eurozone.

Greece is negotiating to extend the international assistance program until the end of 2015 (previously, the program was extended twice). Athens is trying to agree with creditors on a plan for the reforms that will need to be carried out in the country to receive a new aid package. Currently, controversial issues such as reform of the pension system, changes in the sales tax rate and the question of the budget surplus remain unresolved.

In mid-April, Spiegel reported that Russia would provide Greece from €3 billion to €5 billion towards future profits from gas transit through the Turkish Stream gas pipeline. Later, the press secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov , said that at the negotiations between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Russian President Vladimir Putin in April, no agreement was reached on providing financial assistance to Greece, since “nobody asked for financial assistance from Moscow.”

The head of the Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the lack of funds for the payment to the IMF in June