{"id":25739,"date":"2015-03-26T04:13:39","date_gmt":"2015-03-26T03:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/?p=25739"},"modified":"2015-03-26T04:19:18","modified_gmt":"2015-03-26T03:19:18","slug":"kiev-and-moscow-do-a-debt-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/kiev-and-moscow-do-a-debt-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiev and Moscow In Debt Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ukraine\u2019s finance minister has insisted Russia will have to take part in a private sector debt write-off, putting the embattled country on a collision course with the Kremlin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Natalie Jaresko said there was no alternative but for her government to proceed with a $15.3bn debt restructuring programme as a condition of the rescue plan by the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe don\u2019t see another path right now,\u201d said the American-born Ms Jaresko, who is visiting London in a bid to drum up western financial support for her war-ravaged country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Russia has resisted taking any losses on a $3bn bond which is due mature in December. The debt was issued as part of a bail-out for the then pro-Moscow Yanukovych regime which was toppled last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Moscow has so far maintained that it will be repaid in full, claiming it is not a private creditor and thus would not take part in any debt talks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt is our hope that all of our sovereign bond holders will come to the table and try and find a sustainable solution to Ukraine\u2019s debt problem,\u201d said Ms Jaresko.<\/p>\n

Referring to any Russian objections to a haircut, Ms Jaresko said: \u201cWe have no intentions to discriminate on the basis of nationality or location.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope for creditor negotiations to be very transparent, we don\u2019t see any other opportunity or path right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nFormer fund manager and US state department staffer, Ms Jaresko joined Kiev’s new technocratic government last year<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kiev needs to agree on the terms of a bond restructuring, which may include the extension of maturities and reduced interest payments, with its creditors by the end of May in order to be eligible for $17.5bn in IMF cash.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian government has already begun initial talks with its country\u2019s largest private creditors including in the UK and US, said Ms Jaresko.<\/p>\n

Economic output contracted by 15pc in the last quarter of 2014, and is due to fall another 11pc in the first three months of the year. Inflation has reached 28pc.<\/p>\n

Ms Jaresko insisted now was the right time for creditors to take the hit, warning that bondholders \u201cdo not want to be in a situation where there is an uncontrolled situation and we are forced to do a much worse deal for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creditors face a haircut as Ukraine’s perilous a debt mountain is projected to reach 98pc of its GDP at the end of this year, according to IMF forecasts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukraine\u2019s finance minister has insisted Russia will have to take part in a private sector debt write-off, putting the embattled country on a collision course with the Kremlin. Natalie Jaresko said there was no alternative but for her government to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finance","category-w-t-w"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t