KIEV, July 30 (RIA Novosti) - The National Joint-Stock Company Neftegaz Ukrainy is going to pay off in August its $1.4 billion debt to Russia's Gazprom for the gas supplied to Ukraine, the company's board chairman Yuri Boiko has said. The Novosti-Ukraine news agency has learnt this from the Ukrainian company's press service.
The mechanism of debt settlement has been coordinated with Gazprom, Boiko said.
In October 2001 the governments of Ukraine and Russia inked the agreement on rescheduling the $1.4 billion debt for a 13-year term (with a three-year grace period) by the issue of Eurobonds to be paid off between 2004 and 2013 and serviced at the LIBOR+1% annual rate.
Taxation problems emerged in the transfer of bonds to Gazprom. Consultants for Ukrainian Neftegaz and Gazprom in the transfer of bonds were White and Case (the U.S.) and Vneshekonombank (Russia).
Neftegaz Ukrainy is the monopolist in the transportation of oil and gas along transit oil and gas pipelines and Ukraine's largest producer and seller of oil and gas.
