Talks on restructuring Ukraine's $20 billion state debt can begin in April

This association will help them negotiate with Kyiv regarding the restructuring of the debt.

A formal group could kick off talks ahead of the International Monetary Fund's spring meetings, two sources said, which are scheduled to start on April 17 in Washington.

This will be the first attempt to formalize negotiations between private bondholders and Ukraine. Consultations, which have been ongoing since the fall of 2023, have been informal.

According to sources, Ukraine's debt management office has reached out to some investors to get them organised as a creditor group.

It is expected that the creditors' committee will include from eight to 12 large asset management companies.

Ukraine's state debt

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's state debt has doubled (by 2.758 trillion UAH), in foreign exchange terms - by 55% (by $51.6 billion). The main increase in the state debt is due to the attraction of external official concessional loans from the EU, governments of other countries, and international financial organizations.

Part of the external debt has been restructured: with official creditors from the G7, and the Paris Club - until the end of March 2027, with commercial creditors - until August 2024.

Currently, negotiations are underway to extend the restructuring until 2027. This reduces the burden on the budget and debt risks.

Earlier, we wrote that Ukraine's state debt at the end of 2023 had increased by a third. It is known how much the country owes to creditors.