LONDON, May 22 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Smotrov) - Russia is planning to propose exchanging a tranche of its outstanding Soviet-era commercial debt for Eurobonds before the G8 finance ministers' meeting in St. Petersburg on June 9-10, a senior finance official said Monday.
The commercial debt is the result of exports of foreign goods and services to the former Soviet Union.
"The calculation of debt commitments has almost been completed," Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said at a business forum of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.
He added that the tranche offered was worth $560-580 million.
The Finance Ministry estimates Soviet-era commercial debt at more than $1.7 billion. Russia exchanged the first tranche for eurobonds worth $1.4 billion in December 2002.
