An original method of debt elimination has been invented in Ukraine. Thanks to the Ukrainian president’s participation in this process, who also turned out to be in the list of debtors, the opportunity not to pay debts has become possible. The Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a law that gives the government the right to set a temporary moratorium on the repayment of foreign debts. The law comes into force once published and remains valid until July 01, 2016. However, only private investors get under the action of this law, and therefore Moscow, which, according to Kiev, lent money privately. Nevertheless, the Russian government says that it is a public loan and reminds that Ukraine’s commercial debt to the Russian Federation comes in at $25 billion in total. Russian officials have already called the adoption of the law the default’s announcement de facto. "In fact, it is the default. We do not have grounds to lodge any claims. If Kiev fails to pay $75 million in June, Moscow will use its right to appeal to the International Court of Justice,” the Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. According to official data, as of March 2015, the amount of Kiev’s external public debt increased by 8.3 percent, or by $2.4 billion. In total, Ukraine is $32.8 billion in debt. Experts of the National Bank forecast that the joint debt of the country is likely to amount to 93 percent of GDP at year-end.
