22 April 2004 19:17
Ukraine decides to repay gas debt to Russia ahead of time
Kiev, 22 April: The national joint-stock oil and gas company Naftohaz Ukrayiny has decided to fully repay its
1.4bn-dollar debt of previous years to Russia's Gazprom [gas monopoly], declining a proposal to restructure it up
to 2013. The deputy chairman of the board of the Ukrainian company, Ihor Voronin, today told journalists that the
Gazprom board of directors plans to take a decision on the Ukrainian debt on 27 April.
In Voronin's view, the repayment procedure will be completed "within a month's or a month and a
half's time". He said "the full clearance of the debt" is being considered. "No-one says we are
giving up on Eurobonds, but there will be no restructuring up to 2013," Voronin said.
The Ukrainian and Russian governments signed an agreement on restructuring Ukraine's gas debt to Gazprom for 12
years on 4 October 2001. According to the agreement, Naftohaz Ukrayiny has undertaken to issue standard corporate
Eurobonds with a primary main value of 1.401bn dollars, which are to be serviced at the annual rate of Libor plus 1 per
cent and mature in 2004-13. The Ukrainian company has issued the securities and is currently transferring them to
Gazprom.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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