MOSCOW (AKIpress) — The State Duma ratified the protocol to the Agreement between the Governments of the Russian Federation and Kyrgyzstan on the settlement of the republic’s debt to Russia on previously granted loans, Kabar reported.

In 2012, Russia and Kyrgyzstan concluded an intergovernmental agreement on a phased write-off of Kyrgyzstan’s debt, which at that time was $488.9 mln. In May 2013, Russia wrote off $188.9 mln and from 2016 to 2017 another $60 mln.

The protocol on the write-off of the remaining $240 mln by the Russian side was signed during the visit of then President Almazbek Atambayev to Moscow in June 2017. On Dec. 9, 2017 President Sooronbay Jeenbekov signed the law on writing off this debt to the Russian Federation, which was passed earlier by the country’s parliament.

As a result of write-offs, the amount of the external debt Kyrgyzstan will decrease by 6.5%.