SOFIA (Bulgaria), July 2 (SeeNews) – Iraq on Wednesday repaid Bulgaria $360 million ($227.6 million) in cash, or 20% of Iraqi debt owed to the European Union newcomer, the Bulgarian Finance Ministry said.
The payment was made under a debt deal agreed in line with Iraq's arrangement with the Paris Club of government creditors.
“I am satisfied with the strict compliance with the commitments on the part of Iraq,” Bulgarian Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski said in a statement.
About a third of the $360 million payment is principal and the rest is interest.
Iraq's total debt to Bulgaria under intergovernmental agreements signed before 1989 reached $1.860 billion, including $1.259 billion in principal and $601 million in interest, at end-2004. Most of the debt was incurred in the 1980s when Bulgaria supplied Iraq with arms and other goods in return for oil during the Iran-Iraq war.
Bulgaria is the first country to arrange payment of Iraqi debt through a single cash payment, unlike Paris Club creditor governments with which Iraq signed at the end of 2004 a memorandum on reducing its debt. The arrangement envisages the write-off of 80% and the rescheduling of the remainder for a 23-year term, including a six-year grace period.
($ = 0.6336 euro)