Russia wants to pay off its outstanding debts to Finland originating from the Soviet Union era during the course of this year. The Russian Minister of Finance Aleksei Kudrin informed his Finnish counterpart Eero Heinäluoma (SDP) of the plans in Moscow on Tuesday.
The remaining debt is in the region of just under USD 300 million, in other words just short of EUR 250 million.
The debt could be paid back by the end of August. Russia would use money from a stability fund created from its oil income to settle the liability.
About EUR 30 million of the debt would be compensated for by goods and service deliveries. Details of the transaction will be agreed upon in an intergovernmental commission meeting in Helsinki next week.
The much-debated underwater mains cable project from Sosnovyi Bor to Kotka, the idea of which is to provide Finland with cheaper electricity from Russia, was not discussed by the ministers.
