Ukraine doesn’t have to return Russia $ 3 billion that were obtained during the reign of Victor Yanukovych on the eve of Euromaidan. It was stated by Minister of Finance Alexander Danylyuk on the air of Espresso.TV, - reports LB.ua.
"It was a political loan which we were forced to take," - explained the Minister.
According to Danyyluk, these funds could be spent at the time on various state payments.
"Our position is that we don’t have to return the money," - said Danylyuk.
Golosiyivskyi district court of Kievv banned on May 30th the state authorities of Ukraine to repay principal and interest on the loan of $ 3 billion which Russia gave in 2013.
Ukraine owes Russia $ 3 billion on controversial bonds that were issued at the end of 2013 as part of the aid for the regime of Viktor Yanukovych in exchange for refusal to sign the Association with the EU. Russian President Vladimir Putin promised $ 15 billion to Yanukovych, but due to Euromaidan he gave only $ 3 billion.
Last year Ukraine restructured the majority of Eurobonds, making private creditors to write off 20% of the debt. However, Russia said that it was the official lender and therefore Ukraine's proposal was unacceptable. Ukraine, in its turn, denied the opportunity to pay off the debt without restructuring and imposed a moratorium on its payments.
On January 1st Russia announced that Ukraine hadn’t paid the total amount of 3.075 billion dollars and, thus, entered the default state. The Russian authorities appealed to The Law Debenture Corporation plc company and started the procedures necessary to file a claim in the English court.