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Expert: Kiev implicitly announced Ukraine’s default

The Ukrainian leadership is excluding an opportunity of reaching an agreement on the issue of its $3 billion debt to Russia

© Stepan Petrenko/TASS

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Official says IMF recognizing Ukraine's debt to Russia does not change anything for Russia

KIEV, December 17 /TASS/. The Kiev government said it would be unable to pay its $3 billion debt to Russia on original terms after the IMF had recognized it to be sovereign but is ready for negotiations with Moscow, Ukraine’s ex-minister told TASS on Thursday.

Viktor Suslov, Ukraine’s former minister of economy and a finance expert, said the Ukrainian leadership was excluding an opportunity of reaching an agreement on this issue and had implicitly announced Ukraine’s default.

"A stance voiced by the Ukraine Finance Ministry is, in all probability, closing an opportunity for restructuring this debt and is evident of Ukraine’s inability to meet its commitments. Honestly, it means that ministry has implicitly announced Ukraine’s default," Suslov said.

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According to him, the ministry’s words have aroused mixed feelings. "On the one hand, the Ukrainian government takes into account the IMF Executive Committee stance that the Russian securities should be considered an official debt for the purposes of the IMF policy. At the same time, Ukraine keeps saying that it regards the securities to be a private debt for the purposes of its own policy and wants it to be restructured on terms provided for private creditors," Suslov explained.

Earlier, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told journalists that his ministry was ready to consider Ukraine’s proposals on the debt with account of IMF decisions. "December 20 is the deadline. We are waiting for Ukrainian proposals with account of IMF’s new decisions. We are ready to consider them. We have an action plan. If Ukraine fails to pay on its commitments, we are going to protect our interests," the Russian finance minister said.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Economy IMF

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