Russia is facing the first mandatory payment exchange on Wednesday, which frozen foreign assets under international sanctions amid the threat of bankruptcy.
This Wednesday, Russia will repay the first payment of the series scheduled for March and April: $117 million in 2 euro bonds.
However, at the moment, in retaliation for the Russian military operations by Ukraine, about 300 billion dollars belonging to Russian reserves have been frozen in Western banks.
On Monday, the Ministry of Finance announced that it had sent a “payment order to the appropriate bank for payment” of “$1172 million”.
Not so long ago, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov threatened to repay the debt in rubles.
“The statement that Russia is unable to fulfill its public debt obligations is inconsistent with reality,” the Finance Minister said on Monday.
“The freezing of currency accounts by Russian banks and governments can be seen as a foreign desire to provoke an artificial default of debt,” he added.
If Russia complies with the threat of paying the ruble, then a period of 30 days is opened, after which it is declared a default on foreign debt for the first time since 1918, when Lenin violated state obligations.
However, since the situation is unprecedented, the first expiration of March 16 has certain ambiguity.
JPMorgan analysts believe that payments should be possible.
The US Treasury Department states that until May 25, 2022, the Americans can pay interest on bonds issued by the Central Bank of Russia, the Russian Sovereign Fund or the Treasury before March 1, 2022.
Approval is required to continue receiving such payments after that date.
Western sanctions paralyzed part of the Russian banking and financial system and led to the collapse of the ruble.
Default automatically blocks the state's access to financial markets and jeopardizes profitability for many years.
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