Ukraine asked the Russian Federation to restructure its debt

Ukraine has turned to Russia with a request to restructure the debt, said Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

However, Russia, the Minister of Finance stressed, is interested in the return of foreign currency invested in Ukrainian Eurobonds, and is not ready for installment or deferral of repayment of these obligations.

Negotiations with the Ukrainian side on debt restructuring, said the head of the Russian Finance Ministry, took place in January 2015. According to the minister, the Russian side then expressed bewilderment about the fact that the budget for 2015 adopted by Ukraine does not include funds for paying off obligations to Russia.

“Ukrainian colleagues assured that such money is in the budget, on the other hand, they made a proposal to restructure this debt,” Siluanov said.

The head of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation stressed that the funds that should come from Ukraine in December 2015 to pay off the debt are taken into account "in the plans, in the balance of payments and in the budget." “Now we are not in the situation where we could easily part with our obligations,” Siluanov said.

“Ukraine has applied for debt restructuring. I had negotiations with my Ukrainian colleague. The return of our resources, once invested in the bonds of another country, is very important, so we are not ready to go for deferrals and installments,” Siluanov said.

Interfax

• Russia agreed to provide Kyiv with a $15 billion loan at the end of 2013, when Viktor Yanukovych held the presidency of Ukraine. Ukraine received the first part of the loan in the amount of $3 billion
• At the end of February 2014, Yanukovych was removed from the presidency after mass protests by supporters of European integration, after which the Russian Federation announced the suspension of the next tranche of the loan.
• The Russian side has repeatedly reminded that it may demand early repayment of the loan due to the fact that Ukraine's public debt exceeds 60% of GDP, but is not going to do this.
• See also: “It’s not so much to default” What is happening with the Ukrainian economy: report by Ilya Zhegulev