MoE on subsoil agreement: there is no recognition of US aid as debt

Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said this on television, Ukrinform reports.

“There is no question of any new debt or transformation of previous aid into debt. There is no logic of “debt” in either the US or Ukrainian proposals. We are talking about how much the United States and Ukraine want to earn from investments,” Kachka said.

According to him, the figure of “debt” appeared in the negotiations only once - in the version of the agreement that was published in the media. “Since then, there have been no attempts to formulate figures, because everyone understands that this is not a debt, but a mutually beneficial cooperation,” the deputy minister said.

Kachka also said that the Ukrainian side had made proposals for military assistance, to which the US is now waiting for a response.

As reported, on April 17, the Ukrainian and American sides signed a memorandum confirming their common desire to conclude a mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement between the two countries. The agreement itself still needs to be finalized and ratified by the parliaments of both countries.

A new phase of negotiations on subsoil will begin in the United States on April 24, with technical issues and wording on the future investment fund being worked out.