Russia, dollar, euro

[Seth Ackerman]

>   MOSCOW (AP) - Russia may have to spend an extra dlrs 400
> million this year to pay off its debts to European
> countries because of the dollar's slide against the euro,
> the Russian finance minister said Tuesday.
>   Russia's hard currency reserves are held in U.S. dollars,
> but the bulk of its huge foreign debt is owed to European
> creditors and is now denominated in euros.

I don't get this. The whole point of having foreign currency reserves is to
be able to pay off your debts that are denominated in other currencies. If
Russia's debts are denominated in euros, why do they hold dollars???

Seth