The High Court of London on March 29, 2017, in an accelerated manner, adopted a decision obliging Ukraine to pay $3 billion to pay off the Russian Eurobonds purchased in 2013, the Russian Finance Ministry said. In addition, according to the agency, Ukraine is obliged to pay Russia the penalty interest on these bonds.

"In the judgment, the court indicated that, given that it was a requirement to fulfill obligations on a debt instrument, the defendant does not have any arguments to be considered in court in favor of not recognizing the validity of this claim," the Finance Ministry said.

The agency stressed that the decision that obliges Ukraine to repay the debt on Eurobonds in full is final and no additional hearings on this matter in the High Court of London are expected. At the same time, the Ukrainian party intends to challenge the decision of the High Court in the Appeal Court of London. "Today's decision is the first stage. Ukraine received the judge's permission to appeal," Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oleksandr Danilyuk said at a briefing.

Russia acquired Eurobonds of Ukraine at the expense of the National Wealth Fund in December 2013. The debt was due to be repaid in two years, but in December 2015 the new Ukrainian authorities refused to return both the $3 billion debt itself and the last coupon interest of $75 million. After numerous attempts to resolve the issue out of court, Russia initiated a trial in London.

Earlier on Wednesday it became known that the High Court of London denied Ukraine a full-scale consideration of the dispute with Russia about unpaid $3 billion, rejecting Kiev's arguments that the case should be viewed in a broad economic and geopolitical context.

It was then reported that the British judge granted the request of the Russian defense for an expedited summary judgment, which under British law is possible if the defendant "has no real prospects to successfully defend himself against the claim."

Ukraine has not paid Russia $3.075 billion (including the last coupon payment on securities). The plaintiff asked the court to assign to Ukraine penalty interest at a rate of 5 or 8% or any other rate at the discretion of the court, wrote RBC. At the lowest possible rate, the incoming penalty interest is approaching $200 million. The judge said that now he has to determine the detailed parameters of the decision on the accelerated procedure.