Ukraine intends to restructure its debt on Eurobonds in the near term, but this does not relate to repayment of the $3 billion worth of Eurobonds that Russia bought, the newspaper said, citing its sources.
According to the newspaper’s sources the debt is likely to be repaid in full in December 2015 when the bonds mature.
So far, Kyiv has been making payments on the bonds regularly, despite the decline in Ukraine’s financial reserves. At the same time, Russia may demand early repayment, as Kyiv has exceeded a debt-to-GDP limit set out in the terms of the bond issue, Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli has reported.
At present, Ukraine has about $18 billion of sovereign bonds in circulation, including the $3 billion debt to Russia, and another $4 billion in quasi-sovereign bonds.
Earlier it was reported that Russia threatened to demand the early repayment of the $3 billion bond issue made in December 2013.
On December 17, 2013, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on provision of loan to Ukraine of $15 billion. Ukraine received only the first tranche of $3 billion via the purchase of Ukrainian Eurobonds by Russian state-owned banks.
The Eurobonds were issued on December 20, mature in 2015, and have a coupon rate of 5%.
