Sanctioned VTB made payments in rubles.
One of the largest Russian banks against which Sanctions imposed – VTB – made coupon payments in rubles to the owners of its domestic subordinated bonds denominated in dollars and euros. This was reported by Reuters, citing data from the National Settlement Depository.
“Russia's ability to continue servicing foreign currency debt is in the spotlight as the government, which has so far avoided default, faces problems paying its sovereign debt holders. “The state-owned VTB, Russia's second-largest bank, has made coupon payments in rubles on two of its bonds denominated in foreign currency and issued on the domestic market in 2021,” the agency said.
On Monday, VTB made a total of 255.7 million rubles ($ 3.1 million) in coupon payments on two of its euro-denominated bonds and 312.3 million rubles on dollar-denominated bonds issued last year.
“The risk of default entails possible long-term consequences for Russia, which now has limited access to its gold and foreign exchange reserves, as about $ 300 billion in state assets have been frozen by Western sanctions in response to the invasion. I am the Russian Federation in Ukraine. If Russia does not make any of its future bond payments on time, or pays in rubles, dollars, euros or other currencies, it will be considered a default, “the publication said.
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Recall that Russia failed to pay off debts on bonds in 2022 and 2042 – the US Treasury Department has blocked the processing of payments by JPMorgan (JPM).
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