Ukraine clinches debt-restructuring deal with international creditors

Ukrainian government and its international private creditors have reached an agreement on restructuring its outstanding foreign debt after five months of negotiations, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said Thursday.

"Ukraine has reached an agreement with the creditors' committee on the restructuring and partial write-off of the debts," Yatsenyuk told a cabinet meeting.

Under the deal, Ukraine's debt of 19.3 billion U.S. dollars will be cut by 20 percent or about 4 billion dollars, Yatsenyuk said, adding that the write-off will allow Ukraine to avoid a default in the near future.

Besides, the creditors' committee has granted Ukraine a 4-year extension of the loan repayment period, which will shore up stabilization of the country's economy in the medium-term perspective, Yatsenyuk said.

Ukraine has been in talks with its private foreign lenders over restructuring the public debt since mid-March.

Initially, Kiev tried to seek a 40-percent cut of the arrears, threatening to impose a moratorium on debt payments, while its lenders offered to extend the maturities of the debt and lower the coupons.

As of April 1, Ukraine's total external debt stood at 126 billion dollars or 110.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Source: XINHUA