Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov eventually had to submit to the authority of the international justice system. Recently, Russian top officials expressed indignation raising questions about an “unbiased” verdict delivered by the international court of justice, in particular a ruling on a debt settlement for YUKOS shareholders. The government asserted the determination not to obey the ruling of the international law court. However, at present the Kremlin is going to call on the European Court of justice to protect its rights. The reason is obvious, Ukraine’s debt. Russia refused to join talks on restructuring the massive debt, but the Ukrainian authorities are not ready to fulfil their financial commitments. "Russia’s debt is a sovereign one. As for sovereign debts, there is a special procedure to settle such cases. We will not enter into negotiations with the Ukrainian government on this matter. We are going to sue for debt repayment to the law court," Siluanov announced the official stance on this issue. “Besides, being a participant of the International Monetary Fund, we are going to put forward the issue about adequacy of the Ukrainian rescue program launched by the lending institution,” the Russian Finance minister noted. Importantly, Ukraine’s sovereign debt for Russia totals $3 billion. According to rumors, the money was accepted by Yanukovitch government as a pledge for the refusal to make a deal on the EU integration. “We will demand that Ukraine should return the full amount of the debt in compliance with the schedule," the minister said. The deadline is December 2015.
