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IMF not expecting Kiev’s repayment of $3 billion Russia debt in December

According to a report, the Ukrainian government is planning to restructure the $15 billion of its debt before creditors over the next four years

LONDON, March 23. /TASS/. The International Monetary Fund is not expecting that Kiev will repay its $3 billion debt before Moscow in December this year, The Financial Times reported on Monday.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in February that Ukraine had requested Russia to restructure its debt, but said Moscow was not ready for this step.

"Russia is not ready to agree to debt postponement and repayment by installments," Siluanov said.

According to the report, the Ukrainian government is planning to restructure the $15 billion of its debt before creditors over the next four years, part of an IMF rescue to "plug a hole" worth $40 billion in the war-torn country’s finances.

In December 2013, Russia bought Ukraine’s bonds worth $3 billion with a two-year maturity and a coupon rate of 5% per annum and coupon payments every six months.

In early March, Ukraine’s Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, Chicago-born former US state department official, said in the interview with The Financial Times that the bondholders including Russia should be ready for financial losses. She also promised that Kiev would seek to avert default.

Ukraine’s debt restructuration with creditors is part of a four-year program of international aid worth $40 billion, which was agreed between the Ukrainian government , the IMF and the European Union. The program envisages that due to the agreement with creditors Ukraine will cut its debt by $15 billion.