OREANDA-NEWS. Russia and Pakistan signed a bilateral agreement on the settlement of mutual financial claims and obligations on operations of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, according to which Islamabad is obliged to pay Moscow a debt of 93.5 million US dollars.

According to TASS news agency, the document was signed by Russian Deputy Minister of Finance Sergei Storchak and Pakistani Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia Qazi Khalilullah.

In early November, the Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune reported on Islamabad’s decision to repay Moscow debt. According to the publication, the Ambassador of Pakistan in Moscow was instructed to sign an agreement with Russia, which states the payment of the debt of 93.5 million dollars over 90 days. This decision was made by the country’s leadership to resolve a thirty-year dispute with Moscow.

According to The Express Tribune sources, the payment of the debt will allow Russia to invest in various sectors of the economy of Pakistan. In particular, Moscow intends to invest 8 billion dollars in the energy sector and metallurgical plants.

In the 1980s, Soviet enterprises purchased textiles and other materials from Pakistani companies. To ensure the functioning of barter trade, the USSR opened two accounts in the National Bank of Pakistan. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Pakistani exporters stated that part of their goods had not been paid, and the dispute led to the freezing of 105 million dollars from Russian accounts in the Bank of Pakistan in 1996.

The parties repeatedly tried to conclude a debt repayment agreement. In 2015, it was frustrated due to the fact that Pakistani companies refused to withdraw claims against Moscow. In October 2017, another meeting was held, in which all interested parties participated. An agreement was reached between the government and three companies: Tabani Group, Mercury Group and ABS Group.