For the debt from Russia, BiH should receive railway machines and firefighting helicopters

Negotiations on repaying Russia's clearing debt to BiH have been ongoing for eight full years. This is a pre-war debt for work done by Yugoslav companies in the USSR. Russia has offered various options to repay the clearing debt of 125.2 million dollars. This tug-of-war has been going on since 2008. The amount is 215 million convertible marks, which will be divided in a ratio of 72 million KM or 33 percent for Republika Srpska, and 143 million KM or 67 percent for the Federation.

Back in 2008, the then-Prime Minister Nikola Špirić discussed this clearing debt with the Russians, and it was suggested to offset BiH's gas debt. Republika Srpska rejected this at the time. After the large debts left by the Lithuanian owners of bauxite from Milići, they have likely changed their minds.    

So far, it has been proposed that the debt repayment be in the form of goods, specifically railway equipment and machinery for track maintenance and repair. This involves machines worth around 26 million dollars. The Russians are offering these machines to both the Federation's and Republika Srpska's railways.

As a second option, multi-purpose Russian helicopters have been offered. These are the much-needed K-32 helicopters, which can also be used for firefighting as they can carry five tons of water in a single flight. Their capacity is comparable to that of Canadairs.

These aircraft have been considered for debt repayment since negotiations three years ago.

There is no doubt that BiH will accept the railway machinery and these helicopters. The remainder could be repaid in cash, with some estimates suggesting about half of the total debt.