Russia, China have shown little appetite for Greek debt-official

Non EU-countries like Russia or China have so far shown little interest in buying Greek debt, the Greek deputy finance minister said on Wednesday.

Greek media have speculated over the past months that the debt-laden country could have avoided the onerous terms of its EU/IMF bailout by selling debt to countries like Russia or China.

But Deputy Finance Minister Filippos Sachinidis dismissed these rumours, saying Russia or China have never shown any active interest to take part in the country's regular T-bill sales.

We have invited all the countries that you have mentioned (Russia and China) to take an active part in covering the country's borrowing needs through the T-bill sales programme, Sachinidis told radio station Real FM.

Despite its shut-out from bond markets, Greece is still holding monthly T-bill auctions to cover short-term borrowing needs. Most of them are bought by local banks.

Despite the invitation, we have found there was little or no participation at all, he added.