Ex-Russia minister: Eurozone to blow up - Gayo Lues

“A serious financial and economic crisis will hit Europe within a year…with Spain being its next victim, and then possibly Italy,” he told reporters on the sidelines of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Saturday. “The time [for avoiding it] has already past.”

The former head of the Russian Ministry of Finance reiterated that the world is on the brink of economic collapse and Greece’s financial crisis will remain unresolved.

“Greece will not be able to fulfill its obligations [towards lenders],” he added.

Even if Germany revises bailout agreements with the debt-stricken country, Greece will remain entangled in the crisis, Kudrin envisioned.

Greece will exit the eurozone and the same fate will befall Spain, he went on to say.

Kudrin said the financial crisis in the eurozone is inevitable and the time has already past for averting the scenario. Therefore, he said, the most serious economic and financial crisis will develop in Europe within a year, adding that a possible way out may be a partial write-off of Spain’s and Italy’s debt.

The dire prospect may be postponed if it is allowed that the countries partially default on and restructure their debts, and the respective governments agree on recapitalizing the banks, he concluded.

Greece is at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its fifth year of recession because of the government-introduced harsh austerity measures, which have left about half a million people without jobs over the past years.

The delayed resolution of the eurozone debt crisis, which began in Greece in late 2009 and infected Italy, Spain, and France last year, is viewed as a threat not only to Europe, but also much of the rest of the developed world.

AO/HN