RF, Mongolia sign memorandum on settling Mongolian debt.

11/10 Tass 125

WASHINGTON, October 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia and Mongolia have signed
a memorandum on settling Mongolia's debt to Russia, Russian Deputy Finance
Minister Dmitry Pankin, as the business news agency PRIME-TASS reports,
told journalists within the framework of an autumn session of the
International Monetary Fun (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington."
"We signed a memorandum with it on settling debt issues, there is no
agreement so far. The minister signed the document before the departure
for Washington, but it is a memorandum on general principles, on the fact
that we agree to a settlement," the deputy minister explained.
Mongolia's debt to Russia in the volume of 180 billion dollars, the
payment of which the Russian side is trying to secure, makes about two
percent of the total debt of this country to Russia. The rest of the debt
was written off way back in 2003.
The debt formed as a result of a credit Russia gave to Mongolia for
paying its participation in the joint venture Mongolrostsvet. According
the Russian side, the rest of the debt may be paid at the expense of
profits from Mongolia's participation in this joint venture.
-0-ast