News / Russia

Russia sues Ukraine over unpaid $3 billion loan

Wednesday, 17 February 2016 5:16 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 February 2016 5:15 PM ]

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov

Russia has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine at London's Court of International Arbitration over a disputed $3-billion loan Kiev has failed to repay.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday that Ukraine had not shown willingness to negotiate over the Eurobond debt, which Kiev defaulted on.

"Today the Russian Finance Ministry filed the lawsuit against Ukraine with the goal of recovering debt on Ukraine's bond with the nominal value of $3 billion," Siluanov said.

Siluanov also voiced optimism that the High Court in the British capital would look into the case in an “open and transparent” manner.

The loan was issued in late 2013 and expected to be repaid by Kiev last December.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the Russian Finance Ministry to file a lawsuit in case Kiev failed to repay the loan within a 10-day grace period following the December 20 deadline.

Last year, Putin offered Kiev new terms on the repayment of the loan, saying Russia would accept an annual debt repayment of $1 billion over a period of three years if the Western countries provided guarantees. The proposal was not accepted by Kiev.

The loan had been handed to Kiev shortly before former president, Viktor Yanukovych, left Ukraine in 2013 after mass protests erupted.

Diplomatic and trade ties between Russia and Ukraine have soured since the Crimean Peninsula rejoined Russia in a referendum in March 2014 and Kiev commenced a military crackdown on pro-Russian forces fighting for greater autonomy in Lugansk and Donetsk in the east of the country.

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