According to official statement of the Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the country cannot afford to service its international debt obligations on time. It is noted that only in the first quarter of this year the amount of foreign debt increased by 15% and came in at 110.5% of the country’s GDP. As for the certain size of the past-due debt, it reached $900 million. In total, during the period from January to March, it added $5.4 billion unpaid for the International Monetary Fund. "Currently, we cannot service the debt that has accumulated, above all, over the past three years. Ukraine has received $40 billion over the past three years. The total amount required to service the external debt, in fact, is equal to our military spending which makes up 5% of the country’s GDP," Arseniy Yatsenyuk said. In the current situation, the question was raised about the possibility of partial remission of the public debt. However, the government believes that this decision will have a negative affect on future loans. Instead of writing-off, creditors offer "not to make payments on the principal of loan until 2019." In addition, the creditors' representatives confirmed their willingness to take part in tripartite negotiations in Washington, D. C. with the participation of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the IMF. Probably, during this meeting officials will be able to find a solution to the existing problem.
