KIEV, April 2. / TASS / Ukraine has appealed to the largest creditors with a request to join in a committee, so that Kiev can negotiate debt restructuring with it, Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko said on Thursday in an interview with the Ukrainiskaya Pravda newspaper.
"We've asked the major creditors who represent different viewpoints, to create a credit committee that would represent the interests of all creditors and we could effectively negotiate with one group," Yaresko said. "We are looking forward to this week, we were told they are ready, and that they have set up a committee with various interests, so that we can hold specific negotiations with them.
Yaresko stressed that the Ukrainian side expects to negotiate a restructuring of its debt before the end of May. "We need to have time to do it," the minister said. "Like I said at a conference, we cannot not do it in time," she added. "We simply do not have any other options."
When asked about its debt to Russia, worth $3 billion, the Finance Minister explained Ukraine treats all "creditors equally." "In the end, we do not even know who is the holder of these bonds, because they may be sold on the market at any point. But we do know that they are held in the Russian fund, and we have invited the owners of these bonds to participate," Yaresko added.
According to her, Kiev will hold the conversation with all its creditors on equal terms, without any discrimination based on geography, the initial purchase price of the bonds, or other status. "I think that all other creditors equally want that in the end, we are ablt to pay out debts," Yaresko said.