Pavel V. Lizunov
On May 1 (14), 1909, the deadline for the redemption of 5% of the State Treasury's 1904 bonds worth 300 million rubles (800 million francs), a significant portion of which had been placed on the Paris market, expired. At the end of 1908, Finance Minister V. N. Kokovtsov submitted a proposal to the State Duma seeking permission to issue a new 4½% external loan without waiting for the 1909 budget to be approved. A distinctive feature of the loan was its constitutional nature. For the first time, an external loan was approved and ratified by both legislative chambers — the State Duma and the State Council — after which Nicholas II signed the corresponding decree. The loan's nominal capital amounted to 525 million rubles. The loan was negotiated through a syndicate of European bankers. French bankers assumed the majority of the loan. The primary purpose of the loan was to repay the State Treasury's debt issued to cover expenses during the war with Japan, as well as to cover emergency expenditures under the state budget for 1909. Russia did not enter into any foreign loans for the next seven years.