The Finance Ministry completed on October 15 the acceptance of claims for reconciliation in the third Soviet-era commercial debt swap for Eurobonds.
According to tentative data as of October 20, the total amount stood at around $675 million under 2,700 claims, of which "about 2,000 are under consideration," the source said.
The commercial debt accumulated as a result of the Soviet Union's failure to pay for certain commercial deliveries. Russia is now ready to swap the debt claims for Eurobonds.
The Russian government recognized the Soviet commercial debt on October 1, 1994. The Finance Ministry has since exchanged a total of $2.4 billion worth of commercial debt for Eurobonds ($0.3 bln bonds with 2006-10 maturities and $2.1 bln bonds with 2007-30 maturities).
It was earlier reported that the previous two swaps were conducted in 2002 ($1.28 bln) and in 2006 ($1.075 bln). The third swap is expected to be the most difficult of all as it involves debt that could not be exchanged previously due to, among other reasons, insubstantial or improperly documented claims.
