Zee Beam News

MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has transferred $118.4 million to the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC), settling its final Soviet-era debt to international organizations, the Finance Ministry said Friday. According to ministry estimates, the repayment saved the federal budget $16.3 million in comparison with the settlement conditions set by the London Club. The ministry said that on December 29, 2007 it signed an agreement with IBEC to settle mutual financial claims on Soviet operations, with the payment being made the same day. The ministry said the debt was made up of the Soviet Union's outstanding commitments on loans attracted by the U.S.S.R.'s Vnesheconombank from IBEC before the end of 1991. IBEC was established in 1969 by members of Comecon, or Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, an economic organization of communist states that disbanded in 1991, to implement investment projects. Russia holds a 44% stake in the bank.