MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia is expecting an official reply to the debt restructuring offer to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"The Russian offer was articulated by President Putin. Therefore we must get a reply regarding their willingness from the Ukrainian side, as well as a reply from the countries acting as restructuring guarantors. The Russian side has not voiced any other offers," Peskov told Ria Novosti.
The statement came as a response to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's Thursday remarks made on national television.
The prime minister failed to mention Russia's new offer, insisting on extending restructuring conditions for Ukraine's $15 billion debt to other lenders to addressing the $3 billion Ukraine debt to Russia. This includes a 20 percent debt write-off and extended repayment timescale. Ukraine will be unable to repay the debt otherwise, Yatsenyuk said.
Russia subsequently offered Ukraine a debt repayment restructuring with three $1 billion yearly installments between 2016 and 2018, as long as it is guaranteed by an international financial institution, the European Union or the United States.
Ukraine's $3 billion Eurobond debt to Russia was made in late 2013 by the previous government of Ukraine, under then-President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine's total government debt reached an all-time high in 2014, exceeding 70 percent of the country's GDP.
