Ukraine plans to include GDP warrants in a proposal to restructure international bonds worth about $20B. This is a new attempt by Kyiv to establish contact with investors after formal negotiations thus far have failed.
Ukraine owes $19.7B in international bonds and $2.6B in GDP warrants, a fixed-income instrument whose payments depend on economic output growth rate. These warrants were created as relief for creditors during the 2015 debt restructuring after the Russian occupation of Crimea. In previous filings, GDP warrants were mentioned only in the context of eliminating the cross-default clause between bonds and warrants.
However, it has now become clear that something must be done with the warrants since their payments are included in the most important analysis of the IMF’s debt sustainability. Ukraine also wants to ensure that debt holders of state-owned enterprises do not get a better deal during a debt restructuring at a later stage.