Russian Federation Will Sue Ukraine If it Fails to Repay Debt
Russia, which purchased 3 billion in Eurobonds from Kyiv in December 2013, insists that Ukraine’s debt must be paid in full by the end of 2015. “That’s why we will seek Ukraine’s implementation of obligations in late this year”, Siluanov said, according to TASS.
Senior officials in Ukraine and the West have been calling for her release, saying that Russian Federation has effectively taken her hostage.
US Assistant State Secretary for European Affairs Victoria Nuland said on Thursday that Kyiv and Moscow would address the debt issue on the sidelines of this week’s IMF-World Bank conference in Peru.
Russian Federation calls the $3-billion bond it holds a government-to-government loan whose repayment is mandated by global law.
Moscow is not ready to compromise on Ukraine’s debt, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday before a meeting with Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko.
Ukraine has agreed a debt restructuring deal with a group of its largest creditors in order to plug a $15 billion funding gap under an worldwide Monetary Fund-led $40 billion bailout program, but major creditors still need to approve the plan.
“The Russian side say that they would be ready to consider options for this if (Western) sanctions on Russia are relaxed”, said the source, adding that Russia had been given a two-week extension on a Wednesday deadline to decide how to proceed.