Ukrainian official says his country owes Belarus nothing :: Charter'97 :: News

Ukraine has no state debts to Belarus, a source in that country’s foreign ministry commented to Ligabiznesinform, a Ukrainian news agency, on the Belarusian leader’s April 13 statement that the debt problem remained unresolved.

After restructuring its corporate and sovereign debts to creditors of the London and Paris clubs in 2000 and 2001, Ukraine has no debts to other countries, in particular Belarus, the source said and added that

Ukraine has been paying its sovereign debt to Turkmenistan for earlier gas deliveries.

Some sources put Ukraine`s state debt to Belarus at $80 million to $150 million. Minsk insists that during a period following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarusian enterprises transferred payments for Ukrainian products that were never supplied.

"It is up to our governments to find a method of solving this problem," official sources quoted Aleksandr Lukashenko as saying on April 13. "There was a meeting between the foreign ministers and vice premiers of Belarus and Ukraine held talks in Kyiv not long ago. The prime ministers also can meet. This is a natural process. We`ll meet with the president of Ukraine and discuss the prospects of our cooperation as soon as issues and the basis are prepared."