Press: Klaus-headed ministry made large loan to Russia at turn of 1990s

At the turn of the 1990s the Czechoslovak Ministry of Finance, headed at the time by Václav Klaus, gave the Soviet Union a loan of around USD 1.3 billion, the newspaper Hospodářské noviny reported on Tuesday. The loan, provided on the basis of a deal agreed by a Czechoslovak Communist government headed by Ladislav Adamec, became part of a multi-billion dollar Russian debt, only part of which was ever repaid.

Mr. Klaus – who became minister of finance during the Velvet Revolution of late 1989, following the replacement of the Adamec government – told Hospodářské noviny he was unaware of any such covert loan.