Pakistan settles Soviet-era trade dispute with Russia.

ISLAMABAD -- Islamabad has finally decided to sign a deal with Moscow to settle a 39-year old exporters' claims case pending since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, paving the way for Russia to invest over $8 billion in Pakistan. The Pakistani government has authorised its ambassador to Russia to sign the deal. Under the agreement, the Pakistani government will return $93.5 million to Russia within 90 days of the signing and clear pending exporters' claims to the tune of $23.8 million as per the settlement agreements reached on October 6, 2016 and December 27, 2017. The efforts to sign the deal with Russia were kicked off by the previous government of the PML-N government and the incumbent regime has decided to execute it. Moscow has conveyed to Islamabad that it would invest $8 billion in Pakistan's energy sector and the Pakistan Steel Mills. But according to Russian law, it cannot invest in countries with which it has disputes. The deal will enable Russia to invest in different sectors in Pakistan.

According to the commerce division, in the 1980s the then USSR and its companies used to buy textile and other material from Pakistani companies. To ensure the smooth functioning of the barter trade, former USSR opened two bank accounts in the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). The funds in these accounts were deposited by the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) through the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Upon the disintegration of the Soviet Union, some exporters remained unpaid. In addition, there were also claims by Pakistani companies for unshipped goods as they had paid sea freight charges. As the dispute prolonged, some Pakistani companies acquired stay orders from the Sindh High Court (SHC) restraining the NBP from transferring funds of the Russian banks held in its accounts since 1996, which amount to $104.93 million. Many attempts were made in the past to resolve the...