Russia Begins Paying Off German Debt

Russia is to repay about five billion euros ($6.3 billion) in debt to Germany as part of a deal to speed up debt payments to the Paris Club and the International Monetary Fund, the German Finance Ministry said Friday. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin had said his country would pay part of its estimated 21-billion-euro debt to Germany next year, taking advantage of high inflows of foreign currency resulting from the runaway price of oil.