Russia pays Ukraine court expenses for Yanukovych debt case
Russia has reimbursed Ukraine for the court fees paid previously in the case concerning the repayment of a $3 billion bond – the so-called Yanukovych debt, Interfax-Ukraine reported, citing its own sources.
The source did not specify the amount, but noted that it had been paid in full.
On September 14, the London Court of Appeal ruled that the Yanukovych debt case was to be fully reviewed. In this way, Ukraine won its appeal on the previous instance’s ruling.
In autumn 2013, after Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered him a loan of $15 billion. By December 20, 2013, the former Ukrainian President had only received $3 billion, when the Russian National Wealth Fund bought $3 billion of Ukrainian government bonds at 5% per annum on the Irish Stock Exchange.
In February 2016, Russia filed a lawsuit at the London High Court in an attempt to enforce the collection of the $3 billion debt from Ukraine.
In March 2017, the court ruled in favor of Russia’s demand. However, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry appealed the ruling, after which the same court ruled that Russia could only collect the debt from Ukraine once the appeal had been considered. The appeal review was scheduled for January 22-26 this year, but was later postponed by the court.