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Russian Finance Ministry hopes court of appeal will confirm decision on Ukraine’s debt

Ukraine failed to present any new arguments against the rationale of Russia’s claims during hearings

MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/. The Russian Finance Ministry expects that the Court of Appeal of England and Wales will confirm the decision of the High Court of London binding Ukraine to repay the $3 bln debt to Russia, the ministry said on Friday.

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales considered this week the Ukraine’s appeal against the decision made by the High Court of London. "The Court of Appeal of England is anticipated to decide on the Ukraine’s appeal in coming months. The Russian Finance Ministry expects that the Court of Appeal of England will confirm the decision of the High Court of London made in favor of Russia, the ministry said.

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Ukraine failed to present any new arguments against the rationale of Russia’s claims during hearings, the ministry added.

Russia bought Ukrainian Eurobonds worth $3 bln in December 2013 at the expense of resources from the National Wealth Fund. Ukraine defaulted on Eurobonds in December 2015. Russia approached the High Court of London with a request to recover the debt from Ukraine in February 2016 after numerous attempts to settle the matter out of court.

In March 2017, the London court bound Ukraine to pay to Russian the par value of bonds worth $3 bln and $75 mln of coupon revenue and default interest. On May 29, 2017, London’s High Court rejected all of the objections by Ukraine under Russia’s lawsuit. The court thus upheld Russia’s position on the case’s expedited hearing.

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