On Monday, 16 January, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved signing an agreement on the suspension of payments on repayment and servicing of loans attracted in the framework of cooperation between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Japan, the website of the Ukrainian Finance Ministry reports.
During the meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko signed the Agreement in the form of an exchange of notes between the Governments of Ukraine and Japan.
The agreement provides for the postponement till 2027-2031 of the performance of debt obligations of about USD 50 million (JPY 8 billion) on loans attracted under four loan agreements.
"I am grateful to the Government of Japan for understanding the needs of Ukraine and supporting our financial system. Suspension of payments on servicing and repayment of loans will reduce the debt burden on the State Budget and allocate funds to finance security and defence needs", Serhiy Marchenko noted.
The Minister of Finance also noted that this year Ukraine counts on the support of Japan, which will preside in the G7 in 2023, and on the strengthening of cooperation between the Governments of the countries.
The Japanese side appealed to the Ukrainian side with a proposal to suspend the repayment and servicing of Ukraine's debt on loans in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on the suspension of payments on the official debt with the G7 creditor countries.
The Japanese government had earlier allocated 95 million dollars for the reconstruction of Ukraine.