Ukraine's govt reduced state debt from $73 billion to $66 billion - Yatseniuk
KYIV. Dec 11 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government managed to reduce the state debt from $73 billion to $66 billion thanks to restructuring and its replacement with cheaper and long-term loans, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.
"Minus $6 billion [as stated in the original] is a response to those who said that we are taking on loans and are increasing our debts. We have learned to take on loans and reduce debt," Yatseniuk said in his annual report delivered in the Verkhovna Rada on Friday.
Yatseniuk said that the state budget expenditures on debt servicing in 2016 have been reduced by 10 billion hryvni by restructuring foreign state debt to commercial creditors.
The prime minister also said he has managed to restructure the Ukrzalinytsya Eurobonds and state-guaranteed debts of the design office Yuzhnoye.
According to earlier reports, Ukrzalinytsya this week reached an agreement with the committee of creditors on restructuring of the Eurobonds by $500 million and will now propose it to all holders of these securities, whereas the information on the restructuring of the loans of the design office Yuzhnoye and Ukravtodor was not available until recently.
According to the latest Finance Ministry data, the total direct and guaranteed state debt of Ukraine reached $70.61 billion as of late September 2015, which is a $0.86 billion increase from the beginning of the year.
Ukraine's total state debt in 2014 went down 4.6%, from $73.16 billion.