FRANCE AND RUSSIA

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 159, 26 September 1927, Page 9

FRANCE AND RUSSIA

DEBT CONTROVERSY RECORD OF NEGOTIATIONS By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright PARIS, Friday. The president of the French committee which has been negotiating for a settlement of Russia's debts to France, M. de Monzie, has published the correspondence which has passed. This proves the untruth of the pretension of the Soviet’s Deputy Foreign Commissar, Litvinoff, that an agreement had been reached. The correspondence shows that in March last the Soviet laid down the final conditions of a settlement. M. de Monzie replied that those conditions were no different from the offers formerly made. He twice asked for new proposals, but without effect. M. de Monzie admits that he agreed to principles on which a possible settlement could he reached. These included the annual payment by the Soviet of 60,000,000 gold francs, but the Soviet’s insistence on large commercial credits nullified the agreement. Compensation for sequestrated properties was not considered. LETTER FROM RAKOWSKY The Russian Ambassador. Rakowsky, has written to M. # de Monzie, declaring that the Franco-Soviet delegations agreed on March 19 that a definite sum of 60,000,000 gold francs should be paid annually on an average as the Soviet’s share of the settlement of pre-war loans issued or guaranteed by former Russian Governments. Only questions of loans remained, concerning which the Soviet delegation had obtained from Moscow permission to diminish the amount for which it had first asked, namely, £44,000,000 to £24,000,000 in six annual instalments, of which two-thirds of the amount would be spent on contracts and one-third on purchases from French business houses. Rakowsky says the Soviet is ready to pay the £1,200,000 half-yearly interest due to bond-holders immediately after the ratification of the agreement. Press comment is ironical. “Le Journal des Debats” says Rakowsky will have no difficulty in finding other occupation when he is not required as an ambassador He is a humourist who will easily find employment in this sad world.—A. and N.Z.-Sun.