The Ministry of Finance spoke about the scale of Russia's problems with Venezuela's debt due to US sanctions

Russia's Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak admitted that problems with servicing Venezuela's debt to Moscow would arise after the latest US sanctions against the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA.

Quote . “There will probably be problems. Everything now depends on the army, on the servicemen, how faithful they will be to their duty and oath. It is difficult to give another assessment, it is impossible,” said Storchak.

• Venezuela's total debt to Russia is $3 billion.
• Now there is a grace period on this loan: Caracas pays only interest. This happens twice a year - in September and March.
• So far, Venezuela has no delay: the last payment of more than $100 million was on September 30, the same should be in March.

Context . According to Reuters estimates, the Russian government and the state oil company Rosneft have lent Venezuela at least $17 billion since 2006. How much PDVSA owes Rosneft is not known: Storchak refused to talk about it, citing the fact that the Ministry of Finance did not is related to this debt.

• Last week, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself interim president of the country. And on Monday, the US imposed sanctions on PDVSA, which should drastically limit oil exports and force incumbent President Nicolas Maduro to step down. More about this - here .