Russia sues Ukraine in London court over 3 billion USD debt

Moscow has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine at London's High Court over Kiev's 3-billion-U.S.-dollar debt, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Wednesday.

The lawsuit was a last resort as Kiev was not ready to negotiate a mutually acceptable compromise, Siluanov said.

"The lawsuit was filed after repeated unsuccessful attempts to encourage Ukraine to enter into a constructive dialogue on debt restructuring and to recognize the loan as official," Siluanov was quoted by Tass news agency as saying.

He hoped the judicial proceedings would be "transparent and open" at the "independent, authoritative court," "without prejudice against the dispute between the two sovereign states."

Siluanov said that a legal investigation into such dispute in court is a historic precedent on its own account, noting "the fact that the debtor actions caused this is only regrettable."

Russia bought Ukraine's 3-billion-dollar debt in the form of Eurobonds in December 2013 to shore up its economy. Bilateral negotiations failed to make a deal before the debt repayment matured.

Ukraine asked Russia to follow other international creditors and take the same conditions of a debt restructuring plan reached last August, which envisages a 20-percent write-off from Kiev's 15-billion-dollar foreign debt and a 4-year extension of the loan repayment period.

Moscow rejected the proposal and suggested instead a debt-relief plan, under which Kiev could repay its arrears in three installments of 1 billion dollars each within the next three years. Endit