From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Wed Feb 01 2006 - 11:35:20 EST
RUSSIA OFFERS TO CANCEL AFGHANISTAN'S 'DEBT'
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said on 30 January that Russia is ready to forgive Afghanistan's Soviet-era debt, estimated at $10 billion, if Kabul officially recognizes the debt and renounces any claims for reparations or compensation for Soviet occupation of the country from 1979-89, Interfax and AP reported. Storchak said that Afghanistan borrowed funds from the Soviet Union but has not recognized the debt nor made any repayments. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to prop up a pro-Moscow communist regime. Storchak was speaking on arrival in London on the eve of the international conference on the future development of Afghanistan. PB
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