Russia has decided to write off $10 billion in Mongolian debt, the lion\'s share of that country\'s indebtedness to Moscow that was accumulated during 70 years as a Soviet satellite. Mongolia was Russia\'s third-largest debtor after Cuba and Syria, and the amount of the forgiven debt is about 10 times the country\'s annual GDP, polit.ru reported. Under the agreement, Ulan Bator will repay just $300 million, which it intends to raise through a state-bond issue. In recent years, Mongolia has been energetically developing economic ties with the European Union, Japan, and the United States, a process that has been retarded by the country\'s debts to Russia and China. Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin said that the agreement with Mongolia could be of interest to other countries that have enormous \"Soviet debts\" that they are unable to repay. (newsru.com)