Rada decision on debts is grounds for demanding early repayment of loans - Medvedev
MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada's decisions on the country's foreign debts may be seen as grounds for demanding that the loans be repaid early, even if these decisions are not put into practice, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.
"It looks like they have felt somewhat stressed about certain statements they heard from various countries, including from the Russian Federation. And they said they hadn't done anything yet and that the government was only entitled to use this right. But all of us understand that intentions are sometimes more important than actions themselves," Medvedev said in an interview in an analytical program hosted by Sergei Brilyov, shown on Rossiya-1 television channel on Saturday.
"And in general, strictly speaking, if we see this in legal terms, the very fact that the Verkhovna Rada has adopted this decision is enough, in my opinion, for demanding that these debts be repaid early," he said.
While the Rada's decision formally concerns private debts, the loans that Ukraine received from Russia are not exactly private, Medvedev said. "They are not exactly private because they borrowed from our banks, including banks with the state's participation. Therefore, we are not indifferent about these debts as well. We'll call them in," Medvedev said.
"The banks will take advantage of all existing instruments, including, naturally, judicial procedures," Medvedev said. "Because, judging by the statement that has been made, this applies to debts that were received from different institutions and different companies, including from Russia," he said.
Asked whether Russia would oppose the IMF's decisions on supporting Ukraine, Medvedev pointed out that "we cannot block anything ourselves, because, in order to block something, it's necessary to hold a blocking stake."
Only the U.S. has a veto right in the IMF at the moment.
"But we will certainly say about this within the framework of our share of votes. And I am sure that such decisions would eventually affect the position of other creditors and the position of other International Monetary Fund participants," he said.
The Verkhovna Rada had earlier empowered the government to freeze payments on foreign debts. Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko suggested that this right could be used as a lever in negotiations with creditors.