Russia Intends To Settle Mutual Debts With Other Countries In 2001-02

Russia intends to settle mutual debts with other countries in 2001 and 2002, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Kolotukhin told Russian journalists in London. According to the deputy minister, this problem exists in relations with Kuwait, South Korea, Turkey, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, China and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. "The question of settling the debt with these countries is also on the agenda," he said. Sergei Kolotukhin added that the total debt to them, taking into account Russia's debt to the East European countries, amounts to 14.5 billion US dollars. Touching upon the debt problem in the wake of settlements in transferable roubles between the former Soviet Union and the GDR, Kolotukhin said that negotiations with Germany on this score are going on and that the positions of the sides "have become somewhat closer."