Russia, which has overdue interest payments on its debt due to mounting sanctions against it, said Thursday it was ready to settle directly with disgruntled creditors.
“The Ministry of Finance of Russia informs that it is ready to consider and, if there are necessary grounds, to settle bilaterally all claims regarding the completeness of the fulfillment of debt obligations under Euro- Russia-2022 obligations,” the ministry said in a statement.
He published two email addresses to which to send these complaints, assuring that “all requests will be examined”.
According to the ministry, “a number of bondholders outside Russia” are demanding from it “the payment of additional interest for the period from the scheduled date of repayment of these bonds (April 4, 2022) until the date effective transfer of funds to owners”.
Some creditors “consider the delay in this payment, due solely to the illegal actions of foreign financial intermediaries, as a consequence of the issuer’s intentional use of the borrowed funds beyond the established period.”
In a separate statement, the ministry also indicated that the London branch Citibank no longer plays any role in the payment of Russian bonds, the torch having been taken over by National Settlement Depository (NSD), a centralized Russian body responsible for depositing Russian bonds. financial securities traded in the country.
At the end of May, Russia announced that it would repay its foreign debt in roubles, no longer able to do so in dollars because of the sanctions, despite its significant financial liquidity.
Russia has managed to avoid default so far, but Moscow is finding it increasingly difficult to service its debts as Western sanctions tighten.
Since the three major international financial rating agencies no longer rate Russia, it is up to an organization bringing together major international banks (Credit Derivatives Determinations Committees) to assess whether or not Russia misses payments to its creditors.
On Wednesday, for the first time, this committee of creditors affirmed that the country had not honored the payment of interest on its debt to the tune of 1.9 million dollars due on April 4.
