White & Case advises Ukraine on successful restructuring of US$20.5 billion of international bonds

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on the successful restructuring of approximately US$20.5 billion of Ukraine’s international bonds and the sovereign-guaranteed debt obligations of the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure (Ukravtodor).

White & Case partner Ian Clark, who led the Firm’s deal team, said: “This historic transaction follows Ukraine’s successful two-year debt deferral effected in 2022, on which White & Case also advised.  The debt relief achieved with high levels of support from Ukraine’s commercial bondholders will contribute to Ukraine’s macroeconomic stability and allow the government to divert substantial budgetary resources to fund extraordinary social, economic and defense needs caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion.”

The negotiations with bondholders and the execution of the restructuring were completed in less than five months despite the complexity of Ukraine’s economic situation and the need to coordinate the operation with the International Monetary Fund, in the context of Ukraine’s US$15.6 billion Extended Fund Facility, and with Ukraine’s international partners in the Group of Creditors of Ukraine. The transaction was completed by way of an exchange offer and consent solicitation to holders of Ukraine’s outstanding 13 series of Eurobonds and the sovereign-guaranteed bonds issued by Ukravtodor. The transaction, on which Rothschild acted as financial adviser, was launched on 9 August 2024 and settled on 30 August 2024.

This sovereign debt restructuring provides Ukraine one of the highest levels of debt relief in recent history, including an upfront nominal haircut of 37 percent, which reduced the debt stock by more than US$8.5billion, and a reduction in debt service payments in excess of US$22 billion until 2033.

White & Case partner Olga Fedosova said: “Ukraine’s latest restructuring transaction provides our client with significant debt relief at a critical moment in its history. The deal achieved all our client’s goals, was executed with the strong support of Ukraine’s official and multilateral partners, and ultimately received approval from more than 97 percent of bondholders.”

White & Case has advised Ukraine since 1998, when the Firm was retained to support a series of financing and liability management transactions, culminating in the country’s first comprehensive debt restructuring in 2000. Since then, White & Case has advised Ukraine and its most important state-owned entities on many dozens of international financing transactions, as well as on the comprehensive debt restructuring of 2015 and the successful debt deferral of 2022.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction included partners Ian Clark (London) and Olga Fedosova (Paris), counsel James Clarke (London) and associates Dimitrios Lyratzakis, Jack Adachi, Aesha Shah (all London) and Dariya Babyak (Paris).

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