At a joint press-conference with the German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Hannover, Vladimir Putin mentioned the debts of the former Soviet Union, saying that Russia cannot and will not reconsider the decision made in the past to pay debts for all the CIS countries. Russia always fulfills agreements signed.
The President added that not a single former republic of the USSR, apart from Kazakhstan, would be able to service its part of the debt.
A formula may be developed soon for pre-schedule payment of Russia’s debt to the Paris Club. Russia is economically interested in swift payment of the entire sum of debts, as the conditions of the debt are very burdensome. Russia is paying billions of dollars on interest alone, which could be used to develop its own economy, the President said.