Ukraine Works Out Debt Restructuring Deal With Russia's Sberbank
Ukraine’s Finance Ministry says a deal has been agreed with Russia’s Sberbank to work out a restructuring deal for commercial loans guaranteed by the Ukrainian government.
Sberbank and two Ukrainian companies, Ukravtodor and Yuzhnoye State Design Office, "have agreed to work together to achieve a settlement of the transaction as soon as possible," the ministry said in a statement on January 13.
It did not say how much the loans were for, but in December Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk referred to $507 million of Ukrainian commercial debt held by Russian banks that the government was seeking to restructure.
Most of Ukraine's external debt has been successfully swapped, apart from a $3 billion Eurobond held entirely by Russia.
The Finance Ministry repeated on January 13 that it was ready to negotiate a restructuring of the Eurobond.
Based on reporting by Reuters
Ukraine To Ship Goods To Kazakhstan, Bypassing Russia
Ukraine says it will for the first time ship goods to Kazakhstan along a route bypassing Russia, due to the Kremlin’s trade embargo on Kyiv.
Russia this month slapped fresh sanctions on Ukraine in response to its decision to enter a much disputed free-trade and political Association Agreement with the European Union.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarskiy said on January 13 that “experimental” deliveries via Georgia and Azerbaijan would be shipped to Kazakhstan on January 15.
"This Silk Road will not only give Ukrainian goods alternative access to markets in which we have historically been very strong, but also create a new [trade] route between Asia and Western Europe," Pyvovarskiy said in televised remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
The Dutch international banking corporation ING predicts that Ukraine will become Kazakhstan's third-largest source of imports by 2017.
ING said the energy-rich Central Asian nation primarily imports Ukrainian vehicles and transport equipment.
Pyvovarskiy did not disclose what would be shipped to Kazakhstan via the two Caucasus nations this week.
Based on reporting by AFP
An excerpt:
For outside observers and pundits alike, interpreting the myriad of recent Ukraine-related headlines might be a difficult if not impossible task:
-- A visit by the US Vice-President Biden, who delivered a heartfelt message of continued support for Ukraine, but also recognized that corruption remains as big a threat for the country as the Kremlin's aggression.
-- The Prime Minister Yatsenyuk being carried from the Parliamentary stage by an MP who is member of the governing coalition.
-- The public scandal between Mr. Saakashvili (former Georgian president and currently Governor of Odessa region) and Mr. Avakov (Minister of Internal Affairs and a close ally of Yatsenyuk).
-- A very heated debate between the Parliament and the government on the issue of tax reform and budget, which may put Ukraine's IMF program at risk.
-- Resignation of a notorious MP -- Mr. Martynenko, who was publicly accused of corruption by others in the Parliament and by the civil society activists.
What can one make of it? To an optimist, healthy debate represents the growing pains of a budding democracy. To a pessimist, this is chaos and a relapse into the old habits. As with most things in life, the truth is somewhere in the middle.