The latest US decision to not extend the general license waiver that allows Russia to make sovereign debt payments is an attempt to force the sanctions-hit nation into an “artificial default,” according to Kyle Shostak, the director & CEO at Navigator Principal Investors.
The move will “effectively turn Russia’s liabilities to the category of default as it is commonly understood and interpreted by international rating agencies,” Shostak said in an interview with TASS.
“This situation can be called nothing but enforcement of an artificial default, as Russia now has enough funds to service its external debt.”
On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department announced that it would not extend the sanctions waiver that allowed Russia to make sovereign debt payments to American investors, in a move officials previously said would cause Moscow to be in a technical default on its debt obligations. The license waiver expired at 04:01am GMT on Wednesday.