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SYDNEY, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Russia will delay the planned purchase of $2 billion Ukrainian eurobonds until a new government is formed Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Sunday, after weeks of protests led to the overthrow of the Ukrainian government.
The purchase was to be the second tranche of a $15-billion loan plan agreed in December between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.
"Last week we spoke about the purchase of $2 billion of Ukrainian eurobonds. But since then the political situation there has changed dramatically. Now we must wait until a new government is formed before a decision can be made about that," Siluanov told a smalll group of reporters in Sydney.
Ukraine's parliament voted on Saturday to remove Yanukovich, who abandoned his Kiev office to protesters and denounced what he described as a coup after a week of fighting in the streets of the capital.
(Reporting by Matt Siegel; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
((Lincoln.Feast@thomsonreuters.com)(+61 2 9373 1826)(Reuters Messaging: lincoln.feast.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: UKRAINE CRISIS/RUSSIA