KIEV, September 21. /TASS/. Foreign markets have closed for Ukraine since the moment of its state debt restructuring, executive director of the international Bleyzer Foundation Oleg Ustenko told a news conference on Monday.
"Foreign finance markets shut to us at the moment when the agreement [on the state debt restructuring] was reached," Ustenko said.
According to him, since the moment of the debt restructuring Ukraine "has become fully dependent on international financial institutions: without them it is impossible to cover the deficit of our system of state finances."
The expert said that last year the deficit of Ukraine’s system of state finances reached 12% of GDP. "This year, owing to new changes in the sphere of raising social welfare standards we will hardly fall beyond 10% of GDP and will be able to finance it only at the expense of international financial institutions," Ustenko said.
On August 27, Ukraine agreed with major international creditors to restructure its debt, Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said. According to her, part of the debt would be written off while repayment of the rest will be extended until 2019. The media reported that the Ukrainian government and the creditors’ committee had agreed on writing off 20% of the Eurobonds’ value. Initially, the Ukrainian side insisted on writing off twice as much, i.e. 40% of its debt. A 20% debt write-off means that Ukraine will save $3 billion on debt repayment.
The Bleyzer Foundation is a non-profit, non-government organization that assists former Soviet Union (FSU) countries in transition into democratic market economies. The foundation provides assistance to developing countries in creating favourable market conditions, improving the investment climate, and ensuring sustainable economic growth. It conducts seminars, round table conferences, and meetings. Bleyzer Foundation was founded in 2001 and is based in Kiev, Ukraine with additional offices in Houston, Texas and Kharkov, Ukraine.