Russia

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not get involved in the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev to restructure Ukraine’s debt to Russia, IMF Communications Department Director Gerry Rice said in a briefing on Thursday, Sputnik News reported. “We expect Russian and Ukrainian authorities to conduct direct discussions on this matter,” Rice stated.

Russia has proposed a restructuring of the $3bn bond owed to it by Ukraine, an about-turn from Moscow’s earlier insistence of full repayment next month, the Financial Times reported. The move offers a glimmer of hope that Russia and Ukraine can avoid a legal clash over the debt — a threat raised after Russia refused to participate in the $18bn restructuring deal Kiev reached with other creditors a month ago. However, question marks hang over the Russian offer as President Vladimir Putin made clear that he expects the International Monetary Fund to guarantee the debt.

Two dozen pilots and stewardesses from the Russian airline Transaero observed a minute’s silence in the centre of St Petersburg on Sunday for those who died in the crash of Metrojet flight 9268 in Egypt last weekend, the Financial Times reported. But the men and women in the dark blue coats were just as anguished over the fate of their own airline. They have joined protests against the looming bankruptcy of Transaero, Russia’s second-largest carrier and the country’s largest privately owned one.

Turkey's Yuksel Insaat is facing a revolt from a growing faction of investors who have vowed not to vote in favour of a critical restructuring plan, which could push one of the country's largest construction companies into insolvency. Yuksel Insaat, which is the operating company of Yuksel Holding, is trying to restructure US$200m 9.5% bonds, equal to more than half of its debt. The notes mature on November 10. The issuer is due to have a Scheme of Arrangement hearing at the UK High Court a day before the notes' maturity.

Russian businessman Vladimir Kogan has acquired 82 percent of Uralsib Bank's shares as part of a central bank plan to avert bankruptcy at the top-30 Russian lender, the bank said on Wednesday. The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) will also give Uralsib loans for 14 billion roubles ($224 million) for six years and 67 billion roubles ($1 billion) for 10 years to help improve its financial position, the state agency said. Uralsib is Russia's 26th largest bank by assets, according to an Interfax ranking, and it is the biggest bank to be saved with central bank funds since Bank of Moscow in 2011.

Russia's central bank is considering relaxing rules for banks that lent to troubled airline Transaero, a senior central banker said on Tuesday, a day after a deal to buy a controlling stake in the airline fell through, Reuters reported. Alexei Simanovsky, first deputy governor of the central bank, told reporters that the bank was considering extending the time period over which banks had to create loan-loss provisions, thereby easing pressure on their balance sheets. "We are thinking that it could be an extension on creating reserves," Simanovsky said.

A Ukrainian Eurobond held by Russia and due for redemption in December is "official" debt, and for that reason Russia is not taking part in restructuring talks Ukraine has held with private creditors, Russia's finance minister said on Wednesday. Anton Siluanov told journalists that Moscow would take legal measures if Kiev did not repay the debt on time. Russia's longstanding position is that the $3 billion Ukrainian Eurobond should be classified as official intergovernmental debt and is therefore subject to different rules than for sovereign debt owned by private firms.

Russia's biggest lender Sberbank does not believe the indebted Transaero airline could be saved even if it changes owners, RIA news agency quoted Sberbank First Deputy Chief Executive Maxim Poletaev as saying on Thursday. The creditor would not withdraw its lawsuit seeking to declare Transaero bankrupt but was ready for talks with a co-owner of Russia's S7 Airlines who had signed an agreement to buy at least 51 percent of Transaero from its current owner, Poletaev was quoted as saying.

A co-owner of Russia's S7 Airlines, Vladislav Filev, has signed an agreement to buy at least 51 percent of airline Transaero, a spokeswoman for S7 said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Transaero, Russia's second-biggest airline, is laden with debt. Two of its main creditors, Sberbank and Alfa Bank, have filed bankruptcy cases against the airline after it lost out on a lifeline deal with competitor Aeroflot. Read more.

President Vladimir Putin called on the International Monetary Fund to help Ukraine repay a $3 billion bond due December, as Russia said it was weighing plans for a possible default on the debt, Bloomberg News reported. The Washington-based fund is preparing to allow countries supported by a loan program to default on debt to official creditors, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a government meeting with Putin on Tuesday.