Samson: The Kremlin: Russia Is Not Bankrupt, And The West’s Freezing Of Its Funds Is A “Steal”
27th June, 2022
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, commented on a Bloomberg Agency report about Russia’s default on foreign debt under Western sanctions.
Peskov noted that Moscow does not agree with the allegations that Russia defaults on its foreign debt. He added that the position of the Russian leadership is well-known, as the West has frozen Russian assets and used the frozen funds in any way without Russia’s consent, which is illegal, and expressly means “theft.”
And earlier, Bloomberg Agency reported that Russia had defaulted on foreign debts worth $100 million, in light of Western sanctions.
She pointed out that Russia defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since 1918, but this time the markets are dealing with a “unique scenario of a troubled borrower who has the will and resources to repay but is unable to do so.” LINK
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Samson: Russia defaults on foreign currency debt for the first time in 100 years
27th June, 2022
Russia has defaulted on its foreign currency debt for the first time in more than a century, which marks the climax of tougher Western sanctions that have closed off payment methods to creditors abroad.
Over the course of several months, Moscow has been able to find ways around the sanctions imposed after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, but by the end of Sunday, the grace period for interest payments of about $100 million due on May 27, a deadline for default, had expired.
It is a grim sign of Russia’s rapid transformation into an economically, financially and politically isolated country.
Eurobonds in the country have been trading at unfortunate levels since the beginning of March, the central bank’s foreign reserves have remained frozen, and the largest banks have been cut off from the global financial system. But with the economy and markets already damaged, defaults are also now mostly symbolic, and it doesn’t matter much to Russians, who are facing double-digit inflation and the worst economic downturn in years.
Russia objected to its designation as a non-paying country, stating that it had the funds to cover any bills and had to not pay. As it was trying to change course, it announced last week that it would switch to servicing its outstanding sovereign debt of $40 billion in rubles, criticizing a case of “force majeure” that it said was artificially orchestrated by the West.
Official announcements usually come from rating companies, but European sanctions have led to the withdrawal of the ratings of Russian entities. According to the bond documents, whose grace period expired on Sunday, holders themselves could describe it as such if the owners of 25% of the outstanding bonds acknowledged a “failure”. LINK
