You're reading: Kopylov: Ukraine should restructure its debt to the IMF

Ukraine should restructure its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the tranches provided in 2008-2009, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Vadym Kopylov has said.

He said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday that it would be better for Ukraine to restructure the debt, rather than refinance it.

While speaking about the term of a possible debt restructuring, Kopylov said that the longer this period is, the better it would be for the country.

He said that the issue could concern debt restructuring for a ten-year period.

"You know, in order to solve the problem of refinancing, it’s necessary to get something out of one pocket and move it to another, and the time for moving something from one pocket to another diverts certain funds, but when it comes to restructuring, there’s no need to get anything, we simply postpone [the repayment of debt]," Kopylov said.

As reported, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that Ukraine planned to hold talks with the IMF on debt refinancing.