The rights to the loan, which in 2014 received the “National Union” of Marine Le Pen in a Russian bank, now has a sanctioned defense company in Russia.
“National Association” French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen received a € 9 million loan from the First Russian-Czech Bank in 2014. But now it will have to repay the debt to the bankrupt successor of the bank – the sanctioned company “Aviazapchastyna”, according to The Wall Street Journal. Debt repayment terms are more than lenient: the National Association will pay an average of 322,000 euros every three months until 2028. Payments have already begun.
A global agreement between the National Union and Aviazapchastyna was signed in June 2020, after a Russian company filed a lawsuit against Moscow for arbitration, the WSJ reported, citing a copy of the document.
It should be noted that the “National Union” took a 9 million euro loan to the PCR in 2014, after Russia's annexation of Crimea. In 2016, PCRB was declared bankrupt. The rights to the loan then passed to Aviazapchastina. The party had to repay the loan by September 2019, but did not repay. The parties reached a compromise in June 2020 – a few months after Le Pen's announcement of participation in the 2022 presidential election.
Read also: Marin Le Pen confirmed that she still considers Crimea Russian
During the current presidential campaign, Le Pen condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supported sanctions against the Kremlin. However, the history of overdue Russian loans has allowed Emmanuel Macron to say in recent televised debates: “You depend on Russia and you depend on Mr. Putin. When you talk to Putin, you are not talking to another head of state. , you are talking to your banker, “he said.
It is estimated that almost 100% of ballots from all municipalities, Emmanuel Macron took first place in the first round with 27.6% , ahead of Marin Le Pen, who scored 23.41%. Jean-Luc Melanchon is in third place with 21.95%. The second round of presidential elections in France will take place today.
