Kyiv is in talks with the Russian side on the "Yanukovych debt," said Lozhkin / Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine has not discussed with the country’s key creditor, the International Monetary Fund, the issue of settlement the $3 bln Russian debt, Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Borys Lozhkin has told EurActiv.
"We are in talks with the Russian side. It is not connected to the IMF programme. We did not discuss it," said Lozhkin while answering the reporter’s question on whether Ukraine was looking for the IMF’s advice to renegotiate the Russian debt during the latest meeting.
The Cabinet of Ministers has confirmed its decision to impose a moratorium on the payment of a $3 bln debt to the Russian Federation, taken by the Yanukovych government in 2013 and recognized as official debt of Ukraine in December, 2015, said Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk during a Cabinet meeting.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on December 16, 2015 the IMF Executive Board decided that the claim arising from the $3 billion Eurobond issued by Ukraine on December 24, 2013 and held by Russia's National Wealth Fund is an official claim.
On December 17, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry said the country was unable to repay a $3 billion debt owed to the Russian Federation in accordance with its initial terms without violating the financing targets established under the Extended Fund Facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukraine's key creditor.
On December 18, the Cabinet introduced a moratorium on any payments the December 2015 Eurobonds to the tune of $3.075 billion. This moratorium also encompasses Ukraine’s sovereign-guaranteed loans for Ukravtodor and Yuzhnoye owed to the Russian banks.
The Ukrainian government reaffirmed imposition of the moratorium December 30 due to Russia’s unwillingness to consider debt restructuring.
The Russian Federation announced January 1 that it would seek to resolve the issue of the Yanukovych debt in London arbitration court.
However, on January 13, the Ministry of Finance, together with Ukravtodor and the Yuzhnoye State Design Office, have agreed in principle with Sberbank of Russia on the restructuring of sovereign guaranteed loans to Ukravtodor and Yuzhnoe State Design Office, according to a posting on the ministry's website.
Any out-of-court deal to restructure Ukraine's $3 billion debt to Russia must deliver the same economic effect for Kyiv, though its format would likely differ from last year's private sector debt swap, Ukraine's Finance MinisterNatalie Jaresko said.