The Russian government has written to the Paris Club, its sovereign creditors, saying that it is ready to offer stakes in its industries in a bid to reduce its Soviet-era debts.

On Thursday the government indicated that it would not make the $3.9bn (€4.1bn) of due debt payments to the Paris Club this year, having made no such provisions in its 2001 budget. It will not meet the $1.5bn of payments due in the first quarter.