On April 26 the State Duma rejected the resolution prepared
by the Yabloko faction on the negotiations of the RF Government
with the London Club on restructuring and eliminating part
of the Soviet debt;
120 deputies voted "for", 121 deputy "against" and 2 abstained.
"The essence of the Resolution was to point out to creditors
to that the law on the Russian budget still does not envisage
any changes resulting from the concluded restructuring agreements,"
said Sergei Ivanenko, one of the authors of this resolution
and Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction. "Until the corresponding
law is adopted, all the transactions with USSR securities
will not be absolutely legitimate," said Sergei Ivanenko.
According to the law on the Russian budget, the limit
of the state foreign debt is determined by the law on the
state budget. Russia's official foreign debt was approved
two years ago by the law on the budget for 1998 and amounts
to USD140.6 billion.
The budget for 2000 does not indicate the amount of Russia's
debt today. This discrepancy in the law should be resolved
as soon as possible and the planned restructuring of the
USSR foreign debt should be reflected in the Federal Law
"On the Federal Budget for 2000", said Alexei Mikhailov
(from the Yabloko faction), member of the Committee for
the Budget and Taxes of the State Duma.
"We would like to remind the Government that corresponding
amendments should be made to the Federal Law."
"The refusal of the Duma to approve our Resolution demonstrates
the lack of understanding of the newly elected deputies
that it is necessary to obey the law," said Sergei Ivanenko.
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