“As of September 1 of the current year, the state and guaranteed debt amounts to 70.5 billion U.S. dollars,” Yatseniuk said at a briefing on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. According to him, by the beginning of 2014, the general amount of external debt in the country totaled USD 73.1 billion. “In spite of the fact that we are receiving financial assistance from our western partners, we are obtaining additional financial resources, and at the same time, we are paying off debts and reducing general sum of state and guaranteed debt,” Yatseniuk said.