Russia plans to close the book on its foreign debt troubles soon and analysts said yesterday this should help it win improved credit ratings when agencies revise their estimates in the autumn.
First Deputy Finance Minister Mr Alexei Kudrin said Russia would join the Paris Club of creditor nations in two weeks and close its debt rescheduling agreement with the London Club of creditor banks by the end of November.
"The signing of Russia's entrance into the Paris Club as a creditor will be in September, in two weeks, in Paris," Kudrin told a banking conference.
Russia is owed $37 billion (£25 billion) by countries with agreements with the Paris Club, or one third of the total amount it is owed.
Russia itself owes £40 billion to Paris Club members. It restructured this debt, inherited from the former Soviet Union, two years ago.
Mr Pavel Teplukhin, chief economist at Russian investment bank Troika Dialog, said joining the Paris Club would help Russia get paid on some debts on which it had given up hope.
The New York Stock Exchange was closed for Labour Day
