Russia has reached a preliminary agreement with the Paris Club to repay more than $20 billion of its $22 billion debt ahead of schedule.
"The agreement with the Paris Club of creditors will be signed in the very near future," said Pavel Kuznetsov, press secretary to Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.
Kudrin said Wednesday that repaying the debt early would save the country $7.7 billion. He said Russia would save $3.3 bln in 2007-09 by repaying $20.8 bln with a premium of $1 bln, tentatively in late August. But he added that Russia still had to reach a final agreement on early debt repayment with the Paris Club.
In mid-August, Russia will pay $1.2 billion on schedule, and then it might cover the rest of the sum - $20.8 billion - ahead of time. Russia expects to pay 51.4% of the debt at par value.
Russia joined the Paris Club in 1997. In 1993, the Russian government said it would recognize the Soviet Union's foreign debt and repay it in full.
In 2005, Russia repaid $15 billion of the debt in nominal terms, which was the largest transaction in the 50-year history of the Paris Club.
