Seventeen countries owe Russia a total of $27 billion, with most of the country’s lending made through arms deals or unreported political loans, according to a tally by Russia’s RBC news website.
The Finance Ministry estimated this year that 25 countries and other legal entities owe Russia $39.4 billion, including through government bonds. Russia classifies data from its export finance and loans program as a state secret.
Belarus remains the runaway leader among Russia’s debtors with $7.5 billion in unpaid loans, according to RBC’s calculations published Monday. Russia declined Belarus’ request to refinance its debts this summer.
Ukraine is Russia’s second-largest debtor, with $3.7 billion owed to its eastern neighbor.
Venezuela owes Russia $3.5 billion, RBC reported. Cuba has borrowed $3.2 billion from Russia, followed by Bangladesh with $2 billion, Cyprus with $1.8 billion, India with $1.1 billion and Yemen with $1 billion.
China, Morocco and foreign state corporations may owe Russia a further $13 billion, RBC reported. The outlet was unable to identify the specific amounts borrowed by each party, as China and Morocco don’t disclose their bilateral creditors and Russian government statistics don’t include loans to foreign state corporations.
RBC’s tally did not include foreign government bonds issued by countries such as the U.S. and Britain that are held by Russia.
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Belarus remained the main debtor, but its debts to the Russian Federation in 2022 decreased by 3%, to $8.2 billion. Bangladesh is in second place, whose debt has grown by a third, to $5.9 billion. In third place was India, whose debt increased by 12.5%, amounting to $3.8 billion.
The debt of the U.S.S.R. denominated in convertible currencies amounted to US$61.4 billion on December 4, 1991, of which US$53.7 billion had been contracted or guaranteed by Vneshekonombank (and was hence defined as official Soviet debt).
On Monday 27 June 2022, Moody's rating agency declared that Russia defaulted on its foreign debt after missing a payment deadline the preceding Sunday.
Exposure to Russian debt was highest in Italy and France, where upwards of $25 billion was owed each at the end of the third quarter of 2021. In Austria and the U.S., exposure stood at $17.5 billion and $14.7 billion, respectively.
By August 21, 2006, all the Soviet era debts to the west are considered to have been paid off by Russian Federation. Following August 21, 2017, the last remaining Soviet Union foreign debt has been repaid, concluding all the Soviet Union legacy debts being repaid in full by Russian Federation.
Although the national debt is the responsibility of the government and is overseen by a government department, the issuance of debt instruments and the raising of debt through loans and other means is left in the hands of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which is also known as the Bank of Russia.
The case of debts arising from World War II is somewhat less complicated. At this time only four countries, discussed below, owe the U.S. government debts of any size arising from World War II programs to aid our allies. Other countries have paid their debts in full.
The largest recipient of funds in the BRI programme, Russia is by far the biggest borrower from China, racking up a total debt of $169.3 billion (£134bn) over the last 20 years.
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