S&P cuts Ukraine foreign debt rating on default concerns

Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Credit: AP Photo

S&P Global Ratings cut Ukraine's long-term debt rating by three notches, saying the recently announced plan to defer payments means a default is "a virtual certainty."

The agency lowered the rating to "CC" from "CCC+" and downgraded the outlook to negative after the government proposed deferring payments on all external debt obligations by 24 months.