Middle East Economic Survey

VOL. XLVIII

No 5

31-January-2005

SYRIA

Russia Writes Off 73% Of Syrias Debt

Russia has agreed to write off $9.8bn, or 73%, of Syrias outstanding debt of $13.4bn to Moscow from the Soviet era, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin announced on 25 February during a state visit to Russia by Syrian President Bashar al-Asad from 24-26 February. The protocol to settle the debt, which mainly related to purchases of military hardware from the former Soviet Union prior to 1992,...