Russia says business interests crucial in Iraq debt relief

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 20, 2003

Russia says business interests crucial in Iraq debt relief

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The fate of Russian companies and economic interests in Iraq should be taken into account in talks on relieving Baghdad of its massive international debt burden, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said Friday.

Referring to the debt talks and Russian companies' involvement in postwar Iraq, Fedotov said "progress in settling one of them will undoubtedly help reach success in talks about the other."

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told James Baker, US President George W. Bush's special envoy on Iraq that Russia was ready to start in the near future talks on settling Iraq's debt and easing its debt burden within the Paris Club.

But Putin stressed that Moscow would negotiate on the issue "taking into account the economic interests of Russia and Russian companies in Iraq."

German, French and Russian governments had opposed the US-led Iraq war. The Pentagon has recently issued a guideline, saying firms from Germany, France and Russia will be banned from sharing the contracts of 18.5 billion US dollars that the US Congress approved last month for Iraq's reconstruction.

Iraq's foreign debt is estimated at 120 billion dollars. Its largest part is owed to Russia, France and Germany, whose leaders have also agreed to help relieve Iraq of foreign debt. Iraq's debt to Russia is 8 billion dollars.

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