MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has assumed the debts of Crimea, following the republic's reunification with Russia, the country's deputy finance minister said Wednesday.
"Crimea is a subject of the Russian Federation, meaning we now have to take care of its investment image, as we do for other Russian territories," Alexei Moiseyev said.
Standard & Poor's earlier lowered Crimea's long-term credit rating to D, citing a missed bond payment. It then withdrew the ranking altogether on the issuer's request.
Moiseyev said the newly Russian republic failed to pay due to technical reasons, pending debt registration with the Russian treasury, and assured the international economic community that Crimea had sufficient budget funds.
"The rating has been withdrawn, and I don't know if Crimean authorities will agree to pay for a re-evaluation. It's all up to them. Our task is now to pay the debt," he noted.
Moiseyev's aide Svetlana Nikitina confirmed on Wednesday that Russia would cover 4.82 million hryvnas ($430,000) worth of missed bond payments as soon as possible.
