Ukraine will not repay EESU debts to Russia's Defense Ministry - Azarov

The Ukrainian government has no intention of repaying the debts of the corporation Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine (EESU) to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

Azarov was asked whether the government plans to repay EESU debts when he was attending the opening ceremony of a surgery unit in the Ukrainian Cancer Institute on Tuesday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported.

The prime minister re-addressed that question to the doctors, who were standing nearby. "Let's ask the doctors. Will we repay Tymoshenko's debts to Russia?" One of the doctors said: "No."

"You see, they have answered for me," Azarov said.

When the journalist specified if that means that the debts will not be repaid Azarov said: "Of course."

According to media reports, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has asked Azarov to consider the issue of the repayment of the $405.5 million debt of Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine, which was previously headed by Ukraine's former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.