Russia on Monday signed a deal cancelling 90 percent of Afghanistan's Soviet-era debt, worth about 10 billion dollars, in a boost for the war-ravaged country. "Ninety percent has been written off" from the 11.13-billion dollar debt,Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said at the signing ceremony in Moscow with his Afghan counterpart Anwar-ul Haq Ahadi.
The debt, most of which dates from Moscow's occupation of Afghanistan from 1979-89, was forgiven under agreements reached in principal by the Paris Club of creditor countries in 2006. The move was a major gesture of support for the government in impoverished Afghanistan, which is struggling to assert authority across the country following the defeat of the Taliban regime by US-led forces.
Kudrin said Russia wanted to "support the government of Afghanistan in building a new life and stabilising the political and economic situation in the country. Russia will actively participate in helping the economy of Afghanistan." "This is a historic day for our two countries," Kudrin said. "Today we have drawn a line under many years of discussion on regulating the debts."
The Afghan finance chief said the debt relief would "help the stabilisation of Afghanistan." "I look forward to greater cooperation with Russia. We would like further economic cooperation with Russia. We think Russian companies have competitive advantage and think they can compete in Afghanistan's market," he said.
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