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Russia won't withdraw from IMF due to situation with Ukraine — minister

The IMF Executive Board has lifted the ban on provision of loans to the countries with overdue sovereign debts

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Russia does not find it necessary to withdraw from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to situation with Ukraine, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters on Thursday.

"I find it is not reasonable to withdraw from the fund," - he said.

"We are one of the key participants of the fund. We don’t find it necessary to withdraw from the fund because of a disputable situation which has emerged. We think that the IMF is conducting the right policy aimed at supporting balance of payments and budget of the countries, which need financial assistance," - Siluanov said.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to restructure Ukraine’s $3 bln debt, if the US, the EU or a major international financial institution provide guarantees to Russia. But the guarantees were not provided.

On December 8, the IMF Executive Board lifted the ban on provision of loans to the countries with overdue sovereign debts. The decision, in particular, means that the IMF will continue to implement its anti-crisis program for Ukraine even if Kiev fails to pay in time on its debt to Russia.

This decision will also be extended to other situations where countries with sovereign debts, still enjoy the support of the fund.

Russia’s Finance Ministry believes that the IMF took the decision only for Kiev, which agreed on the restructuring of commercial debt with all creditors but did not agree on the official loan it had received from Russia.

On December 20, Ukraine is expected to fully pay its debt to Russia. If it fails, within 10 days after that date, Russia will go to court.