Threatened with bankruptcy, Russia faces first round of payments

Russia faces a first exchange of payment of obligations on Wednesday amid a threat of bankruptcy, having its assets abroad frozen by international sanctions.

This Wednesday, Russia is due to repay $117 million of two euro bonds, the first payment in a series scheduled for March and April.

But, currently, in retaliation for the Russian military operation in Ukraine, some 300 billion dollars belonging to Russia's reserves are frozen in Western banks.

On Monday, the finance ministry announced that it had sent a “payment order to the appropriate bank for payment” of “an amount of 117.2 million dollars”.

Shortly before, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov had threatened to repay debts in rubles.

“The statements that Russia cannot meet its public debt obligations do not correspond to reality,” the finance minister said on Monday.

“The freezing of currency accounts of the Bank of Russia and the Government can be seen as the desire of foreign countries to provoke an artificial default,” he added.

If Russia complies with the threat of paying in rubles, a period of 30 days will be opened after which the country will be declared in default on its foreign debt, for the first time since 1918, when Lenin breached the country's obligations.

However, there is a certain ambiguity around the first expiry of March 16, as the situation is unprecedented.

JPMorgan analysts believe that payments should be possible.

The US Treasury specifies that interest can be paid until May 25, 2022 for Americans, on bonds issued before March 1, 2022 by the Central Bank of Russia, a Russian sovereign fund or the Ministry of Finance.

After that date, they will need an authorization in order to continue receiving those payments.

Western sanctions have paralyzed part of the Russian banking and financial system and led to the collapse of the ruble.

A default automatically cuts off a State's access to financial markets and jeopardizes its profitability for years.

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