Moscow had until March 16 to pay this sum, the first installment of a series of others expected in March-April.
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While its assets abroad are frozen by Western sanctions, Russia assured on Thursday March 17 that it had paid a first installment of interest linked to bonds, immediately removing the possibility of a default.
“The payment order on the payment of interest on bonds (…) with a total value of 117.2 million dollars [105 887 340 euros] (…) was executed”, the Russian Finance Ministry said in a statement. The ministry says it sent its funds to a “foreign bank” March 14.
Moscow had until March 16 to pay this sum, the first installment of a series of others expected in March-April.
In retaliation for the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the part of Russian reserves held abroad, about 300 billion dollars (272 billion euros), is frozen under Western sanctions. They paralyzed part of the country’s banking and financial system and caused a collapse of the rouble.
These sanctions raise fears that Moscow will no longer be able to reimburse, and therefore threatened with a default of payment, which cuts a State off from the financial markets and compromises its return for years.