Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Moscow was ready to consider Washington's call for it to forgive Baghdad some $8 billion in Soviet era debt
Published:
13 April 2003 y., Sunday
"On the whole the proposal is understandable and legitimate. In any event, Russia has no objection to such a proposal," Putin told a news conference alongside German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac.
"I believe that we could begin to discuss the principles of this issue at the G8 summit in Evian. In any case, we are ready to do so," he said, referring to a June meeting of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations in France.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on Thursday Russia, France and Germany could contribute to rebuilding Iraq by writing off some or all of the loans they made to Iraq under President Saddam Hussein. Most estimates put Iraqi debts to Russia and France at about $8 billion each, mostly for contracts concluded in the 1980s, but some analysts say Moscow could be owed up to $12 billion. Germany's Finance Ministry said on Friday Iraq owed Berlin a sum just short of four billion euros ($4.3 billion).
Germany and France, members of the Paris Club of creditor nations alongside Russia, have said it is to early to discuss debt. Putin, however, said Russia was open to the U.S. proposal.
Šaltinis:
gazeta.ru
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The European Parliament's proposal for its own operational budget for 2011 includes the financing of measures in preparation for enlargement with Croatia.
more »
Links between business and the academic world need to be strengthened but higher education institutions must retain their autonomy and public support, says a resolution adopted on Thursday by the European Parliament.
more »
The Spanish Minister of Economy and Finance, Elena Salgado, will present the additional fiscal tightening measures set out by the Spanish Government to her eurozone (Eurogroup) counterparts on Monday; the measures were required by Spain’s European partners as a condition of approving the plan to bolster the euro on 9 May.
more »
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation under EU State aid rules into capital injections destined to two subsidiaries of state owned company Elan Skupina in Slovenia.
more »
GDP growth in the EU expected to gradually pick up, though recovery less robust than past upturns.
more »
The EESC tabled its opinion on the regulation of alternative investment funds, such as hedge funds and private funds. Although endorsing the much debated proposal of the European Commission, the EESC calls for uniform risk data provision for all such funds and emphasizes their responsibility in triggering the crisis.
more »
Concluding the process and deciding on the schedule for releasing the funds agreed on for Greece, as well as examining and learning lessons from the crisis for the governance of the eurozone, will be the focus of the discussions of the heads of state and government at the meeting in Brussels this Friday.
more »
The EU pavilion at the world expo in Shanghai marks the first time the EU has presented itself to a large Chinese audience.
more »
Shanghai's World Expo offers visitors plenty of fun offering bizarre things to do at over 200 pavillions competing for attention.
more »
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a loan of EUR 150 million to MVM Zrt. for the capacity increase and the extension of a high-voltage transmission network, partly constituting priority axes of the Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E) in Hungary.
more »