Thursday, December 11, 2003
Russia not to write off $8 billion Iraq debt
Press Trust of India Moscow, December 10
Russia on Wednesday maintained a sturdy silence on the reported decision by the United States barring its companies from competing for contracts to rebuild Iraq but said it will not write off the eight billion US dollars debt owed by Baghdad.
"The government of Russia is not going to write off the $8 billion debt to Iraq," Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying by Interfax. "Russia has major economic interests in Iraq. It is absolutely incorrect to compare Iraq with Afghanistan, because Iraq is not a poor country and we have no plans to write off its 8 billion dollar debt," Ivanov said.
"Why Russia's debt was not written off after the collapse of the Soviet Union?" Ivanov asked.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was quoted as saying in Berlin that all countries that wanted to help rebuild Iraq should be allowed to do so.
The Pentagon has barred Russian, French and German companies from competing for 1.6 billion dollar contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying it was acting to protect "the essential security interests of the United States," a New York Times report said.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.