IMF Urges Ukraine to Avoid Paying Cash to Settle Gas-Trade Debt
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International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn urged Ukraine not to pay cash to settle a debt to RosUkrEnergo AG, a gas trader controlled by Russian export monopoly OAO Gazprom and investor Dmitry Firtash.
Paying cash will make it harder for Ukraine’s government to keep its budget deficit below 3.5 percent of gross domestic product next year, a target set by the IMF in a loan agreement, Strauss-Kahn said today in the Black Sea resort city of Yalta. RosUkrEnergo is owed about $3 billion, Strauss-Kahn said.