According to reports, Russia has missed a payment deadline for its international bonds, which would mark the country’s first default since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
The Russian Ministry of Finance asserts that it has made the payments and fulfilled its obligations, suggesting that western sanctions have impeded the country’s efforts.
Sunday’s expiration of a grace period revealed that some Taiwanese holders of Russian Eurobonds had not received accrued interest.
Moscow owed $100 million (£81.4 million) on two Eurobonds: $29 million on a euro-denominated 2036 bond and $71 million on a dollar-denominated 2026 bond.
It was unclear how any possible default occurred.
The Russian Ministry of Finance stated that the payments were made in euros and dollars and that Russia had fulfilled its obligations.
However, it signaled last week that it was attempting to meet looming payment deadlines by making payments in roubles, citing the impact of Western sanctions over its involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
They have witnessed the freezing of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign currency reserves.
Additionally, the country’s banking system has been cut off from significant portions of the global market.
The Russian finance minister was quoted by Bloomberg News as calling the apparent default a “farce.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that Russia has no reason to default.
It was unclear whether a rouble payment through the Belgian bank Euroclear had been blocked or whether bondholders had declared Russia in default because the money was not in the correct currency.
When the US Treasury decided not to renew an exemption to sanctions rules that had permitted payments to foreign bondholders, a default was deemed inevitable.
Jay S. Auslander, a leading sovereign debt attorney at Wilk Auslander in New York, stated that determining a default could take some time.
“There is a possibility that magic could occur, but nobody is willing to wager on it.
There is a high likelihood that they won’t be able to because no bank will move the money.
While a formal default would be largely symbolic because the country cannot borrow internationally at this time, the stigma could increase Russia’s borrowing costs when it returns to the bond market in the future.
Approximately half of its $40 billion in outstanding international bonds are held by foreign investors.
