FRANKFURT (Germany), Oct 9: Commercial banks with outstanding loans to Russia, said Friday they had made "substantial progress" in talks with Moscow on rescheduling Russia's debt although no final agreement has been reached yet, reports AFP. ■

In a statement published in Frankfurt, the Deutsche Bank-led committee of western banks, which represents some 600 financial groups, said: ''Recognising the technical and legal questions that remain to be resolved, the two groups decided to continue their deliberations in the coming weeks."

The talks here on Thursday and Friday focused on conditions for rescheduling Russia's private sector debt of some 26 billion dollar.

Deutsche Bank President Hllmar Kpper said Tuesday that the banks had prepared an agreement which would Involve a five-year freeze on repayments and servicing followed by gradual reimbursement spread over 10 years.