Russia has formally written off 90 percent of North Korea’s debt, apparently to enable the construction of the much-talked-of gas pipeline that would stretch from Russia through the North and into the South.

The lower house of the Russian Duma on Friday ratified a 2012 agreement to write off nearly $10 billion in North Korean debt, left over from the Soviet era. The total debt was equivalent to $10.96 billion as of September 2012.