Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro shake hands during a ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, on July 2, 2013.
Maxim Shemetov | AFP | Getty Images
Russia and Venezuela have signed a debt restructuring deal under which Caracas will pay Moscow back $3.15 billion over a 10-year period, Russia's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
Debt repayments would be minimal in the first six years, the ministry said.
borrowed from Russia in late 2011, but failed to keep up with
payments on the debt in 2016 as the South American state faced a full-blown
economic and financial crisis.