Statement of the Ministry of Finance on the adopted draft Law which enables the Government to suspend payments under state and state-guaranteed external debt instruments

Today, on July 18, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted a draft Law that allows the Government to decide on a suspension of payments on commercial state and state-guaranteed external debt instruments. The Law enables the Cabinet of Ministers to suspend payments under any or all specified state and state-guaranteed external debt instruments in line with the IMF program. 

The adoption of the Law provides Ukraine with the necessary flexibility ahead of reaching an agreement in principle with private creditors. In particular, one of the series of the outstanding Eurobonds due in 2026 has a scheduled coupon payment of USD 35 million on August 1. The adoption of the draft Law will allow Ukraine to suspend payments on relevant instruments until the terms of its restructuring are agreed upon with investors and legally executed in line with the parameters of the IMF program.

Over the past two months, Ukraine has been actively negotiating with investors to restructure its external commercial state and state-guaranteed debt under the IMF program and with the support of the Group of Creditors of Ukraine. All parties are committed to reaching an agreement within the necessary timeframe.