REUTERS
Russia is ready to restructure Ukraine’s $3 billion debt, President Vladimir Putin said, Bloomberg reported.
Russia is prepared to take $1 billion per year from 2016 through 2018 from Ukraine, and to defer any payment this year, Putin told reporters at a news conference at the G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday. Russia proposed “better” terms for restructuring to Ukraine than the International Monetary Fund was seeking, Putin said, according to Bloomberg.
The proposal comes after months of Russian refusal to participate in restructuring talks over Ukraine’s debt, which comes due in December. Russia said the $3 billion bond is sovereign debt and not subject to the same restructuring talks as those Ukraine conducted with commercial lenders. Russia purchased the bonds in 2013 as part of a promised $15 billion in aid after Ukraine’s then-president Viktor Yanukovych rejected an association agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with its neighbor to the east.
Read alsoPutin tests English Debt Law as Ukraine feud heads to LondonRussia is waiting for guarantees from the U.S., the EU or international financial organizations on Ukraine’s debt repayment, Putin said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on November 15, Putin fields G20 discussed with the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, the issue of settlement of Ukraine's debt to the Russian Federation.
On November 11, Bloomberg’s sources reported that Russia could try to block further loans to Ukraine by the International Monetary Fund in case of default on the Kyiv’s $3 billion debt to Moscow.