Saudis Sign Off on $1.5-Billion Loan to Reward Soviets

MANAMA, Bahrain —  Saudi Arabia has signed a $1.5-billion loan for the Soviet Union that it pledged last year as a reward for Moscow’s support during the Persian Gulf crisis, Gulf bankers and economists said Thursday.

The bankers said that the loan, half for balance of payments support and half for projects, was signed in Riyadh this month.

Saudi Arabia initialed the accord with officials from the Soviet Union’s Central Bank during their visit last January, but legal problems delayed its signing until recently, they said. Saudi officials were not available for comment.

Riyadh agreed to the aid package late last year, shortly after it ended a 52-year break in diplomatic ties in September, Gulf-based diplomats said.

They said that the aid and renewal of diplomatic relations amounted to a political reward for Moscow’s willingness to give political support to the U.S.-led forces that drove Iraq from Kuwait.