Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced the write-off of more 20 billion dollars of debt to the countries of the African continent. And this is far from all the debts of foreign states., that have been written off over the past decades.
Which and to whom are debts written off
Let's start off with, that debts are written off, which at one time the countries of Africa and to a lesser extent Asia and Latin America took from the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, Moscow generously provided money to friendly regimes around the world., usually, demanding in return only political loyalty.
The main recipients of Soviet financial and military assistance were those third world states, who expressed their readiness to follow the socialist course and provided the USSR with their territories for the deployment of military bases, supported the Soviet Union at the United Nations, that is, they were military-political allies of Moscow.
However, the Soviet Union collapsed, and with it collapsed almost the entire socialist camp. Most of the debtors, naturally, not only did not intend to return any money, but she couldn’t either - not before most African countries, who are themselves in a deplorable economic situation. Also, Moscow had no real leverage on African countries to return debts, and the very existence of debt obligations made it possible to have a certain influence on the politics of third world countries even after, how the Soviet Union collapsed.
Moscow started writing off its debts back in the 1990s, but the absolute majority of debts written off already falls on the years of the presidencies of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, that is, for the last two decades. It was at this time that Russia became more active in the international arena., rebuilding lost ties with Asian and African countries. And 2000 of the year, According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, They were written off 140 billion dollars of debt.
Cuba ranks first in terms of debt relief. Our country forgave the Island of Liberty more than 30 billion. At one time, Cuba received enormous assistance from the USSR, because in the conditions of the economic blockade organized by the United States, the island simply could not exist independently. Thanks to Soviet funding, modern infrastructure was built in Cuba, armed Cuban army.
In the 1990s, there was a lot of talk about Cuba's colossal debts to our country., as well as about, that Havana has nothing to pay for its debts. As a result, Russia began to write off debts, as, one side, there was no hope of their return, on the other hand, Cuba is one of the few states friendly to Russia in Latin America and this is very important, including from a military-strategic point of view.
Iraq ranks second in terms of debt relief.. This country, by the way, never been a socialist, and the assessments of Saddam Hussein's regime are very controversial. But the Soviet Union regularly financed the government of the Arab National Socialist Baath Party, investing in the economy and the armed forces of Iraq huge sums.
Baghdad owed Moscow 21,5 billion. Then the USSR collapsed, and then Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq collapsed. The situation in this country is destabilized, the economy was undermined by the war. Nevertheless, unlike Cuba, Iraq has oil. Lots of oil.
Third place - over 20 billion dollars - divided between the various countries of the African continent. Only during the period 2000 by 2013 gg. Russia writes off Ethiopia's debts - $5.9 billion, Algeria - 4,7 billion, Libya - 4,5 billion. And these are only three African states, maintained close ties with Moscow during the Cold War.
Arms supplied to African countries, military equipment, equipment. Soviet specialists and for Soviet money built infrastructure facilities in African countries - from enterprises to hospitals, from schools to military units. Tens of thousands of African civilian and military specialists were trained in the USSR. true, in return, the USSR received the right to use ports and airfields in African countries.
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By the way, and the United States has invested quite a bit in its African, Asian and especially Latin American allies. Such is the fate of a great power. Like Moscow, Washington also contained dozens of underdeveloped states around the world., counting, that they would support him against the "communist threat". true, if Americans invested in the construction of civilian facilities, it is much smaller, than the USSR.
Except African countries, Russia wrote off the debts of Mongolia 11,1 billion, Afghanistan - for the same amount, North Korea - on 11 billion, Syria - on 9,78 billion, Vietnam - on 9,53 billion, Laos - on 960 million dollars, Kyrgyzstan - on 500 million dollars, Nicaragua - on 344 million dollars.
The list is pretty impressive., especially, what if everything is clear with Nicaragua or Laos, Vietnam has one of the most prosperous and dynamic economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Algeria and Libya, like Iraq - oil-bearing states, with huge reserves of "black gold".
But Livia, as well as Iraq, is in a deplorable state after the war - its economy is practically destroyed, and the political system of the country is decentralized and chaotic. It's not even clear, from which Libyan "government" it would be necessary to demand the return of debts, Considering, that there are several political forces in the country, claiming the role of official power.
bad debt
Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov acted as a "lawyer" for the debt cancellation policy.. he stressed, What's on 90% written off debts were uncollectible. He also expressed doubts about, that modern Russia, its economy, a refund would help a lot.
I do not think, what those amounts, who are you talking about, which are inherited from the Soviet Union, would solve some internal problems and would significantly help to solve them,
- Lavrov said, speaking at the youth educational forum "Territory of Meanings".
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, debts were collected by third world countries in that situation, when the USSR was not part of the world monetary and financial system. And this circumstance, according to Lavrov, greatly complicates the calculation of debts. After all, the official dollar exchange rate was 63 dime. Now we are talking about completely different amounts..
As Lavrov noted, legally very difficult to prove, at what rate were the debts of the Soviet Union provided to African countries. Therefore, it is not possible to return them., especially considering, that the total amount is divided into the debts of specific states, and each state would begin to defend its point of view in court.
by the way, if we compare the amount in 20 billion dollars with Russian GDP, she doesn't look that big. So, existing debts to Russia are estimated at about 40 billion, but this number is only 1/40 Russian GDP. Our country earns this kind of money a little more than, than a week. And if it's in her interest, political and economic, this amount of debt, dialed not today, and half a century ago, forgive, why can't it be done?
Benefits of debt forgiveness
Debt forgiveness policy explained, Firstly, foreign policy interests of Russia. In exchange for forgiven debts, Moscow receives certain preferences in the markets of the African continent. Ведь сегодня африканские страны являются третьим после Китая и Индии покупателем российского вооружения и военной техники. И Россия не хочет осложнять отношения с выгодными партнерами.
Besides, в ряде африканских государств есть свои интересы и у крупнейших российских компаний. for example, в Гвинее работает российский «Русал», так как в этой африканской стране сосредоточено до двух третей мировых запасов бокситов. Россию интересуют и природные ресурсы ЦАР, ряда других африканских государств.
Отдельный вопрос – военно-политическое сотрудничество: not excluded, что в обозримом будущем в Африке могут появиться российские военные объекты, например – пункты материально-технического обеспечения ВМФ России. В изменившейся мировой политической ситуации возможность военного присутствия в Африке также представляет для нашей страны очень большой интерес. И за эту возможность, как считают в Кремле, можно и заплатить.
Нужна ли нам военная база в ЦАР
Сейчас Африка – один из перспективнейших регионов планеты для вложения денежных средств. Поэтому и важны для России хорошие отношения с африканскими странами, а президент уделяет столько внимания встречам с африканскими лидерами. Ведь не зря в Африке столь плотно работают не только бывшие европейские метрополии, but also Chinese, Japanese, indian, южнокорейские компании. И нашей стране, если она хочет развиваться, обеспечивать загруженность собственных производственных мощностей, рабочие места для своих граждан, не говоря уже о политическом влиянии, нельзя упускать момент.
for example, выгода от участия РЖД в развитии железнодорожного сообщения на африканском континенте может быть в разы большей, чем вся сумма прощенного всем африканским странам долга. Тоже самое касается и других компаний, которые имеют собственные интересы на африканском континенте.
Критики списания долгов африканским странам плохо представляют себе, how Russia could get these debts back. Go to Ethiopia by war? Arrest furniture in the Laos embassy? No wonder Lavrov directly noted, что большинство долгов были безвозвратными и, most importantly, это долги Советского Союза, который распался тридцать лет назад. Сейчас России нужно жить текущим моментом, make money and gain political weight today, not the day before yesterday.
Everything has to be paid, including for the status and capabilities of a great power. and USA, and China, и европейские страны – все они вкладывают средства, инвестируют в развитие промышленности в странах третьего мира. Что касается Соединенных Штатов, так они прямо содержат многих своих союзников, финансируют их вооруженные силы – и не только в Центральной Америке или Африке, but also in the Middle East (те же сирийские курды до недавнего времени), в Восточной Европе (Ukraine, Baltic, Poland, Kosovo), в Центральной Азии (Afghanistan).
by the way, у США или Китая, как и у России, есть свои собственные нерешенные проблемы социально-экономического характера. Но это не означает, что нужно поставить крест на внешней политике и инвестициях, на утверждение своего влияния в других странах мира.
Нежелание инвестировать во внешнюю политику, пусть и путем списания долгов, в перспективе могло бы привести куда к более тяжелым для российской экономики последствиям, чем потеря этих гипотетических двадцати миллиардов.
Ilya Polonsky
