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Mr. Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi Foreign Minister and Mr. Alexei Kudrin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, signed a Memorandum of Russian debt reduction to Iraq in the headquarters of the Russian Ministry of Finance in Moscow on Monday afternoon 11/2/2008.
The ceremony of signing the Memorandum preceded a round of consultations on which both ministers expressed the desire of the Iraqi and Russian governments to strengthen relations of cooperation and friendship and the exchange of expertise and technical advice between Baghdad and Moscow.
Mr. Hoshyar Zebari expressed the appreciation of the Iraqi government and the accompanying delegation for holding this event and confirmed that this day is a special day for Iraq and Russia and their peoples especially, since the signing of the Convention on debt reduction is an important step taken by Russia to support and develop the relations of the two peoples. He also noted that this step is a strategic investment in Iraq and its people, who appreciate this orientation from Russia stressing the need for Iraq to the continuation of the historical relations linking Baghdad and Moscow. The minister added that bilateral cooperation between the two countries generated a lot of staffs and senior Iraqi officials who speak Russian, which leads to greater connectivity.
On his part, Mr. Alexei Kudrin stressed that Russia take this important and historic step as a belief the future of relations between the two countries and the necessity to develop and progress them especially, since the expertise of Russian companies have developed sophisticated possibilities that could contribute to the development and advancement of the new Iraq.
The Russian debt to Iraq hit 12.9 billion dollars and in accordance with the agreement at the Paris Club this debt has been reduced by 80% after reducing the original debt by 65% as a result of the entering of Russia in the Paris Club, bringing the total remaining debt of $ 1.2 billion has been rescheduled In accordance with the agreement to 34 semi-annual shares interest payable with effect from July 2011.
Among those who participated in the signing ceremony, adviser of Finance Minister Dr. Aziz Jaafar who checked with the advisers the final version of the signing, the ministry's Undersecretary for Administrative Affairs Dr.Abdul Kareem Hashem, and a number of senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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