According to the US Treasury Department, Russia has paid off debts abroad and thus avoided insolvency. How much money Moscow paid on Friday was initially unclear. However, the Russian Ministry of Finance indicated in April that the sum of 649 million dollars for two bonds to an unnamed US bank was due by the 6th of the month.
To repay the debt, Russia used its foreign exchange reserves abroad, according to US Treasury Department sources. The Russian Treasury said it paid at a London branch of Citigroup.
Because of the sanctions once morest Russia for its war in Ukraine, Moscow had tried to pay off the debt in rubles. It argued that because of the extraordinary events, it had a right to pay in Russian currency and not in dollars or euros. Investors and rating agencies disagreed. Russia was granted a 30-day grace period for payment. That deadline would have expired next week.
KEYSTONE
