According to sources close to the Paris Club, the sum in question is about $15 billion, which is about a third of the total Russian debt to the countries making up the Paris Club.
According to the sources, the Russian debt is to be discussed at a closed-door meeting under the scheme when representatives of the debtor set forth their position but are not present when the creditor states' representatives discuss the matter.
The terms on which the debt should be repaid remain the main stumbling block while the very early repayment causes no principled objections on the part of the Paris Club member states, the sources said. The problem is the early repayment will deprive the creditors of the interest for servicing the debt. Therefore, they have been striving for a wording that would enable them to recoup the loss.
As of January 1, 2005, Russia owed the Paris Club $43.1 billion, according to the Russian Finance Ministry. $18 billion fell on Germany as Russia's major creditor within the Paris Club.
According to the Russian Finance Ministry, in all, the Russian foreign debt totaled $114 billion as of January 1, 2005.
Russia pays about 7% interest per annum within the framework of servicing its debt to the Paris Club. The Russian Finance Ministry has repeatedly said that the early debt repayment would enable the country to save billions of dollars in interest payments, particularly, about $2 billion per annum.
The Western and Russian press earlier reported that the talks on the early repayment of Russia's debt to the Paris Club had ground to a halt in fact, because the Paris Club demands a bonus while Russia insists on a discount.
