A number of Russia’s Eurobond holders received coupon payments due this week, Reuters reported, citing two market sources, signaling that Russia has evaded a widely expected external bond default.
According to the agency, the payment was made in US dollars. Sources said two creditors have already received their due, while a number of others are optimistic they would soon, as they had received tranches on their other hard currency bonds from a number of Russian companies in recent days.
Earlier, another source said Russia’s correspondent bank, JPMorgan, had processed the funds sent by the Russian government and credited it to the paying agent, Citigroup, which is to distribute it to bondholders after a standard checking procedure.
Earlier this week, the Russian Finance Ministry announced it had sent a payment order on its two dollar-denominated sovereign bonds due on March 16 with the total amount of $117.2 million – the first payment due since Moscow launched a military operation in Ukraine.