last week offered to defer paying the principal on a 2022 bond until July 19, 2024. It also proposed paying back the principal on a 2026 bond, with half due on Nov. 8, 2027 and half due on Nov. 8, 2028.
"The (creditor) Group remains fully prepared to re-engage with the Company as and when the Company is in a position to substantively respond to the Group’s proposal," said the creditors in a statement.
"The Group believe that a restructuring proposal that respects the needs of the Company, the position of its private creditors, and the appropriate interests of its other stakeholders, is eminently achievable."
The content of the creditors' counter-offer was not available. Naftogaz said it could not comment as talks were ongoing.
Last year, holders of two of its three main international bonds refused to sign up to a debt payment deferral plan. Naftogaz first asked for a pay freeze in July, nearly five months after Russia's invasion began.
A person close to the creditors' thinking told Reuters on Monday creditors are "frustrated" and the market won't accept the latest offer.
"The market perceives the company has the ability to do more than it is doing, and its financial position is rather more favorable that it is letting on," said the source.
"There's frankly a lot of frustration as the company keeps producing iterations of what was proposed a long time ago, without really engaging in any meaningful way with creditors."
The negotiations revolve around two dollar notes
maturing in 2022 and 2026 with $850 million outstanding and a
third note for 600 million euros due in 2026.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York; Additional reporting
by Olena Harmash in Kyiv; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
