S&P downgraded Ukraine's rating to "selective default"

The American rating agency S&P Global downgraded Ukraine's credit rating to the level of "selective default" (SD — selective default) due to the lack of coupon payments from the Ukrainian side. This was reported by the agency's press service.

The agency noted that the Ukrainian government did not pay the coupon income on the 2026 Eurobond on August 1, 2024, when the payment was supposed to take place. S&P Global also does not expect that the payment will be received during the grace period of ten working days stipulated by the contract, the report said.

"We have downgraded our long—term and short-term foreign currency ratings (FC) of Ukraine to SD/SD (selective default) from CC... We have also downgraded the 2026 Eurobonds rating from CC to D (default)," the agency said in a statement.

Ukraine has been negotiating with creditors for several months to restructure more than $ 20 billion in debt, and on July 22, a little less than two weeks before the default, an agreement was reached.

The agreement provides for a 37% discount on outstanding international bonds, which allows Kiev to save $ 11.4 billion on payments over the next three years.

At the end of July, after the conclusion of the agreement, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ukraine's long-term rating from SS to C. This means an exceptionally high level of credit risk, the beginning of a process similar to default and its general inevitability, RBC clarifies.