Bill to write off $240 mln in Kyrgyz debt submitted to Duma
MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) - A bill ratifying the agreement between Russia and Kyrgyzstan to write off $240 million in Kyrgyz debt has been submitted to the State Duma.
The bill has been published in the Duma's electronic database.
Kyrgyzstan's debt to Russia totaled $488.9 million in September 2012, according to the explanatory note attached to the bill.
In May 2013, an agreement was signed to write off $188.9 million. The remaining $300 million was subject to phased write-offs over 10 years beginning on May 16, 2016.
As of the end of March 2017, Kyrgyzstan's debt to Russia came to $240 million.
Kyrgyzstan, which is eager to improve the country's debt indicators, requested that Russia write off the remaining debt all at once.
During the Kyrgyz president's visit to Moscow on June 20, 2017, a protocol to an agreement was signed stipulating the one-time write-off of Kyrgyzstan's debt to Russia, which would constitute official development aid from Moscow to Bishkek.
"As a result of the write-off, Kyrgyzstan's sovereign, external debt will decline by 6.5% and sovereign debt as a percentage of GDP will fall to 60.6% from 65.2%," the explanatory note says.