Washington - Russia has been suspended from a key USDA loan guarantee program after missing a $21 million debt payment in mid-August, a USDA official said.
All together, Russia owes nearly $2.5 billion to the USDA's Commodity Credit Corp. for loans made under various programs in the early 1990s to buy various U.S. agricultural products.
Russia owes the CCC nearly $2 billion for guaranteed loans made to the former Soviet Union under the department's GSM-102 program in the early 1990s, which guaranteed lenders would be paid even if the borrower defaulted. The missed payment in mid-August stems from those obligations. Russia also owes the CCC another $500 million for direct loans made by the USDA under a separate food aid program.
In recent years, the USDA has operated a much smaller loan guarantee program for Russia. In fiscal 1998, which ends on Sept. 30, Russia has used just $50 million of GSM-102 export credit to buy U.S. meat products. In fiscal 1997, it purchased $105 million of U.S. farm goods under the program.
Russia will remain suspended from the GSM-102 program until it clears up its arrears, Goldthwait said.
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