Finance Ministry sees no need to restructure Ukraine's debts now

The Budget Code provides for certain tools in case Ukraine is unable to borrow the needed amount.

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Ukraine's Finance Ministry sees no need to restructure the country's debts the way it was done in 2015 to reduce the debt burden.

"There is no need for restructuring," Deputy Finance Minister Vasyl Shkurakov told UNIAN in an interview.

According to him, the Budget Code provides for certain tools in case Ukraine is unable to raise the planned amount of borrowings from external sources.

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"This is the replacement of external borrowings with domestic ones. In extreme cases, we can buy foreign currency from the National Bank's reserves for hryvnias and repay the debts. There are enough tools," he added.

He noted that it was necessary to restructure the country's debt in 2015, as the economy of Ukraine at that time was simply unable to service the debts in such a volume.

"The state, state-owned enterprises and banks lost property in Crimea and Donbas. And that was not a decision Ukraine made on its own – it was part of a program with the International Monetary Fund," he explained.

As UNIAN reported, Ukraine in 2015 restructured its debt on eurobonds worth $15 billion, under which creditors agreed to write off the country's debt by $3 billion and extend maturities.

In November 2015, Ukraine issued new eurobonds at 7.75% per annum for $12 billion whose maturity is in 2019-2027. State derivatives pegged to GDP growth were also issued to the tune of $3 billion.

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