13/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Row over restructuring of Russian loan. “We are once again asking for the support of the Russian government in relaxing the terms of the loan” of €2.5 billion granted in 2011, the Cypriot finance minister, Harris Georgiades, said on Monday in an interview with CNBC, ahead of the meeting of the Eurogroup. On Saturday, the Russian deputy finance minister, Sergei Storchak, denied that an agreement had been reached. “For that to be a done deal, we need to have it on paper”, he said. The Russian government “is positive”, according to Georgiades, “and has expressed its willingness to look into our demands”. Last week, the media took the restructuring of the loan as read, following a leaked “troika” report which indicated that Moscow had agreed to reduce the annual interest rate of the loan from 4.5% to 2.5% and to extend the repayment term until 2018. (EL/transl.fl)