Russia has asked the High Court of London to expedite the ruling on a US$3 billion loan that Russian President Vladimir Putin and then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to in December 2013, according to Russia`s news agency RIA Novosti.
”Russia has lodged a motion with the High Court of London for an expedited ruling on a lawsuit filed [by Russia] following Ukraine`s failure to repay $3 billion in debt,” Russia`s Finance Ministry declared, RIA Novosti said.
The motion was initiated by the independent Law Debenture Corporation plc, which is the trustee representing the interests of Russia as the sole owner of Ukrainian bonds worth $3 billion.
Russian lawyers claim that Ukraine has included a number of purely political arguments in its response to the lawsuit, which have nothing to do with the trustee`s demand that the debt liabilities be fulfilled and mostly do not correspond to the reality.
The Russian Finance Ministry expects the hearing on the motion to take place late in 2016.
”If the court supports it, full-scale litigation won`t be needed and a final ruling on the substance of the case could be passed in the beginning of 2017,” the Russian news agency stated.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk said Ukraine is not going to pay back the so-called Yanukovych debt.
According to lawyers and debt market experts polled by UNIAN, the upcoming trial with Russia will be cumbersome and may last several years. Experts also say the trial itself does not pose a threat to Ukraine and a court ruling in Russia`s favor will not be sufficient grounds for instant payment of the debt. In addition, Ukraine is not likely to have problems getting fresh loans from the IMF and other official creditors.
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