LONDON-- Three years after facing off over Greece's debt workout, the two giants of debt restructuring - Lazard and Blackstone - are again preparing to do battle, one for Ukraine and the latter on behalf of its creditors.
The aim of having private investors take a $15.3 billion hit on their Ukrainian debt holdings as part of a $40 billion international rescue package sounds like peanuts compared to Greece, where creditors took a 75 percent haircut on 200 billion
euros of debt. But Russia's involvement this time is injecting an extra frisson: accused of supporting an anti-Kiev insurgency, Moscow is also a prominent creditor potentially capable of derailing the plan.
Another prominent player is Franklin Templeton, one of the world's biggest asset managers, whose star investor, Michael Hasenstab, has staked over $6 billion of clients' money – and his reputation - on Ukraine.
REUTERS
