Putin anticipates participation in rebuilding Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Putin anticipates participation in rebuilding Iraq

Russian President Putin Monday expressed the desire that his country may attend reconstruction in the post-war Iraq, pledging a huge investment from Russian companies in the near future.

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Russian President Putin Monday expressed the desire that his country may attend reconstruction in the post-war Iraq, pledging a huge investment from Russian companies in the near future.

Putin made the statement while meeting with visiting head of the Iraqi Interim Governing Council, Abdel Aziz Al Hakim. Putin noted that "Russian companies are ready to be active in Iraq", saying that "investment from Russian companies may soon total 4 billion US dollars."

Putin said Russia has had historically good relations with Iraq and expects to maintain such ties with the new Iraqi authorities on the basis of developing relations with the Iraqi people.

Later, Hakim told a press conference after meeting with Putin that he received a "very generous" promise from the Russian side to partially write off Iraq's debt, which Russia puts at 8 billion US dollars.

Russia has expressed its disapproval of the intention of the United States to exclude nations that had opposed the US-led coalition actions in Iraq from bidding for prime contracts to rebuild the country.(

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