Avellum Partners acted as Ukrainian counsel for the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on the restructuring of thirteen sovereign and sovereign-guaranteed Eurobonds with an outstanding principal of approximately $15 billion.
Settlement of the exchange offer involved the restructuring of approximately $15 billion of Ukraine’s external debt, achieves a 20% debt reduction for Ukraine (approximately $3 billion) and allowed Ukraine to avoid paying any of the previously scheduled $8.5 billion of principal falling due under such bonds through the end of 2018. This successful debt operation is a key part of the implementation of Ukraine’s IMF-supported EFF Program approved in March 2015 and represents the outcome of seven months of intensive work of all Ukrainian authorities, coordinated by the Ministry of Finance, to convince Ukraine's bondholders of the necessity of a debt restructuring.
Glib Bondar, Head of Finance and Restructuring Practice of Avellum Partners, commented: “We have the honor to work on this remarkable and ground-breaking transaction with many legal challenges which had to be resolved in the middle of international an domestic political turbulences. We believe that this restructuring will become a cornerstone for Ukraine’s future financial stability and economic recovery.”
The Avellum Partners team was led by Partner, Glib Bondar, with lead associates Artem Shyrkozhukhov and Taras Dmukhovskyy and tax support from associate Vadim Medvedev, and a team of lawyers, including Taras Stadniichuk, Anastasiya Voronova, Pavlo Shevchenko and Orest Franchuk.