(July 4, 2003) According to Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Milen Velchev, the U.S. administration had shown understanding that the repayment of the Iraqi debt to Bulgaria was of great importance and it would not insist on its full cancellation.

(July 2, 2003) Although chasing Hussein’s hidden bank accounts and finding caches of gold has grabbed headlines, those amounts are small compared with what a tough debt reduction campaign can yield for Iraq.

(June 30, 2003) Bulgaria should not have too great expectations about collecting a US$1.7 billion debt that Iraq ran to it during the Cold War, Deputy Minister of Finance Krasimir Katev said. The Paris Club is likely to forgive up to 60% of it, he said.

(June 30, 2003) Krassimir Katev, Bulgaria’s Deputy Finance Minister, ruled out the option for the U.S. administration to buy out the Iraqi debt, which, in his words, counters its regulations.  

(June 27, 2003) Prices for Iraqi commercial debt have risen strongly since the fall of Saddam Hussein, but analysts say U.S. investors are holding back from re-entering the market because of legal uncertainties, despite last month’s lifting of U.S. financial sanctions.

(June 27, 2003) Finance Minister Milen Velchev said Bulgaria was willing to wait a couple of years more, as it had waited for 13 years already to get back its debt from Iraq. "What is really important is to receive as large percentage of the debt as possible," he said.

(June 26, 2003) Russia will not cancel Iraq’s debt accumulated during the rule of ousted leader Saddam Hussein, the speaker of the State Duma, Gennady Seleznyov, said in remarks published Wednesday.

(June 26, 2003) by Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State "Once we have a better estimate of the true level of Iraq’s debt and its underlying payment capacity, we can move forward to develop a comprehensive strategy to deal with Iraq’s official debt," says Randal Quarles.

(June 25, 2003) Basil al-Rahim, founder of the Washington-based Iraq Foundation, has its own guidelines for rebuilding Iraq, called the "Phoenix Plan." The plan advocates wiping away a big chunk of Iraq’s debts – as was done after World War II for Germany.

(June 23, 2003) On the question of forgiving debts to free up funds for Iraq’s battered infrastructure, World Bank president James Wolfensohn said the common attitude is, "You bombed it. You fix it."

(June 23, 2003) Russia has signalled its willingness to join global efforts to write off or reschedule Iraq’s staggering debt burden. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the Wall Street Journal that Russia would "do its part" to help Iraq.

(June 23, 2003) Chris Gilbert, of the San Francisco Bay Area Jubilee Coalition, responds to a recent Financial Times editorial on Iraq’s debt, that asserts using the notion of "odious debt" as a basis for cancelling debt is unworkable.