Kasyanov To Discuss Russian Debt During Visit To Prague

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov is going to discuss settlement of the Russian debt during his official visit to the Czech Republic to start Tuesday. Currently, the debt amounts to $3.6 billion. $54 million was written off in 2000 for supplies of Yak-42D planes. Part of the debt has been written off due to increased energy supplies. The Czech Republic wrote off over $93 million of the Russian debt from January to August 2001. According to well-informed sources, Kasyanov and his Czech colleague Milos Zeman are going to sign documents dealing with the debt restructuring. The possibility of ceding part of the debt or Russian reciprocal supplies is not ruled out. Another topic for the discussion in Prague is Russian energy supplies. It is supposed to renew the USSR-Czechoslovakia agreement on gas supplies from Yamal. Fuel supplies for Czech electric power stations are also to be discussed.