This sequence of the debate between the two rounds caused a strong reaction. On Wednesday evening, Emmanuel Macron accused Marine Le Pen of “depending on Russian power”, in particular through a loan taken out by his party from a Russian bank. The president-candidate had particularly virulent words against Marine Le Pen. “You depend on Russian power and Mr. Putin,” he told his interlocutor. “You took out a loan in 2015 from a Russian bank close to the government, then you reboutiqued this loan from other actors who are involved in the war in Syria,” he added. Charges firmly denied by Marine Le Pen. However, according to some information, this transaction would have taken place. Emmanuel Macron: “You depend on Russian power and Mr. Poutine” during the debate between the two rounds pic.twitter.com/iz6ePEAAVX — CNEWS (@CNEWS) April 20, 2022 A loan of more than 9 million This case dates back to 2014. The National Front, which has since become the National Rally, actually took out a loan of more than 9 million euros from a Russian bank, the First Czech-Russian Bank (FCBR), to finance the party campaign for the 2015 regional and departmental elections. Two years later, in 2016, the FCRB went bankrupt. The loan was then bought by Conti, a Russian company specializing in car rental, then by Aviazaptchast, a firm run by former Russian soldiers which trades in aircraft spare parts. Legal proceedings Tensions quickly arose between the new Aviazaptchast schedule and the National Front. The firm even attacked the party, then chaired by Marine Le Pen, in Russian justice for not having repaid its loan. In 2020, Marine Le Pen and her creditors reached an agreement. The National Rally has thus obtained a deadline until 2028 to repay the sum borrowed. Why Russia? If Marine Le Pen for a time denied the existence of this loan, the candidate of the National Rally justified herself to Emmanuel Macron, pointing to the difficulty for her party to obtain such a sum from a French bank. “It’s dishonest to prevent me from getting a loan from a French bank and then reproach myself for going abroad to look for one,” she told Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening. The President of the Republic immediately defended himself from this exit, assuring that he was “not Minister of Finance in 2015” and that “nobody ever intervened”.