KYIV, Sept 25 – During its Friday evening meeting, the Cabinet passed a resolution on restructuring the Finance Ministry’s debt to the National Bank of Ukraine, said Natalia Zarudna, Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko’s spokesperson, Ukrainian News reported.
“A draft resolution on the issue of interest bearing KOVDPs for 2000 was confirmed,” said Zarudna.
On Friday morning Finance Minister Ihor Mitiukov said that the ministry and the NBU had reached an agreement on restructuring payments on domestic state loan bonds (OVDPs), or Treasury bills, belonging to the National Bank, the report said.
The draft resolution submitted for examination by the government provided for the t-bill debt to be restructured by swapping government bonds held by the NBU for new interest-bearing t-bills with maturities ranging from 16 to 124 months.
According to the draft directive, the National Bank will swap t-bills issued during the 1998-2000 period and converted bonds (KOVDPs) issued during the 1998-1999 period for the new bonds.
The value of the bonds to be restructured could reach Hr 10.5 billion, according to the draft directive.
According to the debt restructuring terms agreed on between the NBU and the Finance Ministry, FinMin will have to pay a monthly coupon on the new securities starting on January 25, 2001.
The rate of the coupon is expected to be set at an annual rate of 18.86 percent next year, after which the rate is expected to be calculated using a floating formula that will take into consideration the rate of inflation, among other things.
FinMin and the NBU have been negotiating the restructuring of the ministry’s debt to the National Bank for OVDPs and KOVDPs since the beginning of the year.
