Xinhua Online (China)
February 5, 2004

Moscow: Russia is ready to settle Iraq’s debt problem in accordance with the Paris Club rules, which may lead to a “considerable” reduction of debt for the war-ravaged country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said Thursday.

Discussion on the possibility of deferring or rescheduling the payments, which is stipulated in the Paris Club’s rules, should be settled only with a legitimate Iraqi government, Itar-Tass news agency cited the deputy minister as saying.

“This presupposes a considerable alleviation of the debt burden, given the Iraqi side’s acknowledgment of its debt commitments,” Fedotov said.

He emphasized that it is important for Iraq to form new governing structures with active participation of the United Nations, which should play an independent role and have its own strategy to settle the Iraq problem.

Fedotov explained that the issue was duly clarified during the Moscow meeting between a visiting Iraqi delegation and Russian President Vladimir Putin last December.

The delegation, headed by Chairman of the Iraqi Interim Governing Council Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, said Iraq’s 8 billion US dollar debt to Russia would be reduced to 3.5 billion.

It also noted that Russia had assured that it was ready to revise the remaining 4.5 billion US dollars if Russian companies receive contracts in Iraq.

Russia, a staunch opponent to the unauthorized US-led war against Iraq, sticks to the right of participation of its companies in Iraq’s reconstruction process.