Ukraine's creditors approve $20 billion debt restructuring - Bloomberg

Ukraine's creditors approve $20 billion debt restructuring - Bloomberg

Kyiv  •  UNN

August 28 2024, 03:37 PM  •  12627 views

Holders of 97% of Ukraine's international bonds have agreed to restructure more than $20 billion in debt. This will allow the country to receive debt relief to finance its defense against Russian aggression.

Ukraine has received support from bondholders in restructuring its external private debt. International investors, who hold more than 97% of the country's international bonds worth more than $20 billion, will exchange their securities for new bonds. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.

“Ukraine has received widespread support from bondholders in restructuring its external private debt, enabling the country to obtain much-needed debt relief to finance its defense against Russian aggression. According to a statement on the London Stock Exchange, international investors who hold more than 97% of the country's international bonds worth more than $20 billion will exchange their securities for new bonds...,” the newspaper writes.

It is noted that this is a key step in the debt restructuring process after two rounds of negotiations with private bondholders in June and July, which marks a quick resolution of the problem.

“The completion of the Eurobond debt restructuring agreement is a crucial step to ensure the stability of Ukraine's budget, which is necessary to continue financing our defense as well as other important budget items such as healthcare, education and social services,” said Sergii Marchenko, Minister of Finance of Ukraine.

It is also noted that the creditors have also approved the restructuring of the guaranteed Eurobonds of Ukravtodor, the state highway operator.

“The bondholders recognized nominal losses of 37% of their shares on 13 bonds, giving up claims for $8.67 billion. The deal pushes back the maturity of the bonds and lowers interest rates, which Ukraine forecasts will save the economy $11.4 billion over the next three years. Consensus was key, as holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding debt had to agree to the deal for it to be binding on all creditors, with a minimum threshold of 50% for each bond. The participation rate in each series of bonds ranged from 95% to 98.87%, depending on the content,” the publication adds.

The new Ukrainian bonds will start trading after the settlement date of August 30.

Recall

In July , it was reportedthat Ukraine had reached an agreement in principle with some of its private creditors - bondholders - to restructure its international debt of more than $20 billion.