Siluanov: Russia not interested in Cyprus offers

Offers from Cyprus have awaken no interest in Russia, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters on Friday commenting on talks with his Cypriot counterpart. “We had the last round of talks yesterday. The talks have ended,” he said. “Their proposals were to set up a state company with the transfer of assets of gas fields and to offer Russian investors to join, purchase bonds that will be changed over into shares later. Our investors looked into that and did not show interest,” Siluanov said. Speaking about the investment fund Cyprus planned to set up, he explained that “they wanted to contribute to that fund stakes of that company, some banks as well as other assets they could offer for exchange”. “They also offered us to acquire shares in these banks. But none of our commercial credit organizations has gone out for that,” he added. “The issue of a state credit was not considered, as the European side has fixed the upper limit of the debt that they must not exceed, while granting a loan means to exceed that threshold,” the minister stressed. “We are waiting for the decision of the trio, and proceeding from that we will react, making a decision on our participation in debt restructuring,” Siluanov added.