Kremlin: Russia ready to sell Yanukovych debt to another country
Russia is ready to sell Ukraine’s debt on the so-called “Yanukovych loan” to another country, Russian Deputy Minister of Finance Sergey Storchak said on Thursday.
“Theoretically, this could be money and securities of some other state that is ready to take on Ukraine’s debt because of its special relationship with Ukraine, and could quickly work to reach a compromise. Still, the burden associated with the return of more than three billion dollars is a significant burden on any budget. We fully understand that,” RIA Novosti quoted Storchak as saying.
Ukraine owes Russia $3 billion on controversial bonds which were issued in late 2013 as part of the assistance given to the regime of Viktor Yanukovych in exchange for refusing to have dealings with the European Union. President Vladimir Putin promised Yanukovych $15 billion, but because of Euromaidan issued only $3 billion.
At the end of 2015, Ukraine restructured 13 issues of eurobonds for a total of $15 billion, having secured from private creditors a write-off of 20% of the debt. However, Russia said that it was an official creditor, and refused to offer Ukraine options to restructure the debt. Ukraine, in turn, said it would not repay the debt without restructuring and introduced a moratorium on its payment.
On January 1, 2016, Russia announced that Ukraine had not paid back a total of $3.075 billion. Because it had defaulted, Russia filed a suit against it.
On March 29, 2017, the High Court of London ruled in favor of Russia, but Ukraine appealed the decision.