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Restructuring Ukraine's debt to have neutral impact on Russia — Deputy Finance Minister

Deputy Finance Minister notes that the money from the Russian National Wealth Fund were used for buying Eurobonds from Ukraine, thus, the restructuring will not affect the borrowing program in Russia

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Restructuring of Ukrainian debt, provided Ukraine makes the decision, will have a neutral impact on the sovereign rating of the Russian Federation, Deputy Finance Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters Tuesday.

"I think it will have a neutral [impact on the rating — TASS]. There are more important factors," he said.

He noted that the money from the Russian National Wealth Fund were used for buying Eurobonds from Ukraine, thus, the restructuring will not affect the borrowing program in Russia next year.

On November 16 the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia proposed to Ukraine to pay the debt in installments in 2016-2018, $1 bln per year.

"In my opinion we made an unexpected offer to our partners," he said. "We haven’t not just agreed to restructure the Ukrainian debt, we have offered better conditions than the International Monetary Fund was asking of us. We were asked to postpone the payment for the next year in the amount of 3 bln [US dollars — TASS]. I said that we were ready for a deeper restructuring. We are ready not to receive any money this year, $1 bln next year, another $1 bln in 20187 and 2018," Putin added.

"Our partners are confident that the creditworthiness of Ukraine will grow, and we have no reason to doubt that we might even receive 3 bln [US dollars — TASS] next year, our partners have no concerns to guarantee the loan," Putin said. He noted that Russia has asked for such guarantees from either the United States government or from the European Union, or from one of the international financial institutions. "We hope that this issue will be resolved by the beginning of December this year, due to a specific timetable of the IMF," Putin said.

According to him, this issue was already discussed on Monday, November 16, with the United States President Barack Obama, and with the Secretary of the Treasury. "The proposal was received with interest. We agreed with our partners to substantively discuss the details in the near future proposals," Putin said.

The President noted that the Russian partners in the IMF suggested that Russia used debt restructuring, which was to be paid before the end of 2015. It was proposed to transfer $3 bln in 2016. "They assured us that this will help both Ukraine and Russia, and will ensure payment to the creditor," the President said.