Russia’s State Duma ratifies write-off of $865 mln Uzbek debt

MOSCOW, Mar 25 (PRIME) -- Russia’s State Duma, the parliament’s lower house, on Friday ratified an intergovernmental agreement with Uzbekistan to write off about U.S. $865 million out of the country’s $889.3 million debt to Moscow.

The agreement also encompasses repayment of the remaining $25 million debt to Russia, as well as Uzbekistan’s refusal of its claims on division of the USSR Diamond Fund.

Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma’s CIS issues committee, said previously that the ratification of the agreement will alleviate many issues that have restrained normalization of financial relations between the two countries for a long time.

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