the point as a country where the commercial creditors said: ´Too risky.´ Now the official creditors said: ´Within limits, we will support you.´"
The possibility of Ukraine either outright defaulting on its obligations or imposing a payment freeze could have shut Kiev out of global borrowing markets and severely hampered its IMF-led austerity and economic restructuring drive.
The IMF had patched together a $40 billion (35.5 billion euro) rescue package aimed at stabilising the country´s financial footing after more than two decades of corruption saw its economy shrink from levels seen in Soviet times.
But that deal required a compromise with bondholders that could save the nation $15.3 billion over the next four years.
The deal will see the lenders take a 20-percent "haircut" to the face value of their bonds but obtain slightly higher interest payments in return.
Ukraine agreed to raise its coupon rates to 7.75 percent from 7.2 percent while the lenders accepted slightly longer repayment terms.
The compromise also keeps Ukraine from being forced into making any principal payments should its real annual growth rate stay below three percent.
"The deal avoids default (and the use of a moratorium) on debt payments," the Ukrainian finance ministry said in a statement.
The bondholders called the financial pact "confirmation of the private sector´s confidence and belief in Ukraine and our willingness to invest in its future recovery."
Thursday´s agreement saves Ukraine $11.5 billion but is still short of the target set by the IMF.A separate set of restructuring deals with other private lenders expected in the coming days will fill part of the remaining gap.
But still unresolved and increasingly worrying is the future of a $3.0 Eurobond that Russian-backed ex-president Viktor Yanukovych issued months before his ouster by pro-European street protesters.
The payment must be made to Russia -- accused by Kiev and the West of orchestrating the 16-month eastern uprising in reprisal for its western neighbour´s pro-European drive -- by December 20 or see Kiev sued by Moscow.
Ukraine believes the sum should be treated as a commercial loan that should be restructured along the lines of Thursday´s agreement.
But Russia calls the $3-billion a government-to-government loan whose repayment is mandated by international law.
"Ukraine officially announces that Russia under no circumstances will receive terms better than those received by the other creditors," Yatsenyuk told the cabinet meeting.
"There is still no clarity on how Ukraine will deal with its Russia bond," emerging markets ranalyst Liza Ermolenko of Capital Economics wrote in a research note.