Former governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Valeria Gontareva considers it expedient in the situation of Russia's war against Ukraine to restructure the external public debt and agree with investors to postpone payments for five to ten years.

"What else needs to be done by the Ministry of Finance, and it is interesting to hear why it does not go for it, is to restructure our external debt," she said in an interview with NV.

In 2014-2015, Ukraine has already experienced the restructuring of the public debt, reminded Gontareva.

"Now it's also important for us to go to investors, who, by the way, perfectly understand and support us, and ask for reprofiling. That is, simply postpone our payments for five to ten years, according to a normal schedule, just to relieve us of the budget burden. No one will call it a default," Gontareva said.

The ex-head of the central bank clarified that Ukraine in 2022 has to make payments on the state debt in the amount of $5 billion, of which $2 billion must already be paid in September.

"And, in my opinion, it is ethically wrong to take money from some investors and pay to others, especially since those others are ready to help us restructure our debts and understand the situation we are in," Gontareva added.