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Russia was poised to default on its foreign debt for the first time since 1918, pushed into delinquency not for lack of money but because of punishing Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Russia was likely to miss payments on two foreign-currency bonds late Sunday, according to holders of the bonds who had yet to see funds deposited. The day marks the elapse of a 30-day grace period since the country was due to pay the equivalent of $100 million in dollars and euros to bondholders.

Grace period for $100mn in interest payments ends on Sunday evening. Russia could default on its foreign debt for the first time this century as the clock ticks down on a pair of overdue interest payments blocked by western sanctions. About $100mn worth of interest on Russian government debt is due to bondholders by Sunday night, the end of a 30-day grace period during which the country must make the payments to avoid defaulting. Russia said it had sent the funds to investors, but financial sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine have hampered Moscow’s ability to...

Russia's failure to pay $1.9 million in accrued interest on a dollar bond will trigger payouts potentially worth billions of dollars, a panel of investors determined on Wednesday, as the country teeters on its first major external debt default in over a century.

Russia's finance minister said the country would take legal action if it's forced to default on its external debt, the Izvestia newspaper reported on Monday. Russia is facing a historic sovereign default after the US Treasury blocked the country's dollar payment to international bondholders last week. Russia last defaulted on its foreign debt more than a century ago, in 1917 during the Bolshevik Revolution. "Of course, we will sue, because we have taken all the necessary steps to ensure that investors receive their payments," Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the pro-Krelim Izvestia in an interview.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Wednesday it is up to the U.S. to decide whether crucial interest payments on two dollar-denominated eurobonds go through, ratcheting up fears of Moscow’s first foreign currency debt default in over a century. “The possibility or impossibility of fulfilling our obligations in foreign currency does not depend on us, we have the money, we paid the payment, now the ball is on the side, first of all, of the American authorities,” Siluanov said in an interview with RT Arabic, according to Russian news agency RIA. “The Russian Federation has the necessary money in foreign...

Rating company Fitch said it would declare the Russian state in default if it pays holders of dollar-denominated bonds in rubles. The Russian sovereign has $117 million in interest payments due today for two dollar-denominated government bonds—one maturing in 2023 and one in 2043. Russia’s finance ministry has sent conflicting messages about whether it intends to make the payment and, if so, in what currency. Fitch said that if these payments aren’t received in dollars and within the 30-day grace period, it will constitute a default.

LONDON- The economic cost of Russia's assault on Ukraine was fully exposed on Wednesday as Vladimir Putin's sanctions-ravaged government teetered on the brink of its first international debt default since the Bolshevik revolution. Moscow was due to pay $117 million in interest on two dollar-denominated sovereign bonds it had sold back in 2013. But the limits it now faces making payments, and talk from the Kremlin that it might pay in roubles - triggering a default anyway - meant even veteran investors were left guessing at what might happen. One described it as the most closely watched government debt payment...

Russia is due to make two interest payments on its dollar bonds on Wednesday, but it is unclear whether western investors will actually receive their cash, potentially lining up a uniquely messy government debt default. Russia’s first default since 1998, and its first default on foreign-currency debt since the Russian Revolution, would complete a staggering turnround. Before it invaded Ukraine, Russia was considered one of the most creditworthy countries in the world, with its low debt levels and vast oil and gas exports. But unprecedented western sanctions aimed at cutting off Russia from the global financial system have sent the...

The Russian Finance Ministry said on Monday it has sent an order to a correspondent bank for the payment of coupons on eurobonds amounting to $117.2 million, a signal to markets waiting to see whether Russia will default on its sovereign debt. The eurobonds in question, maturing in 2023 and 2043, were both last trading at 20 cents on the dollar or lower and are among the first to have scheduled payments after Russia was hit by sanctions related to its invasion of Ukraine. The restrictions meant it was unclear whether Russia would be able, or willing, to make the...

Russia and Ukraine could hold a new round of peace talks as soon as Monday, according to Ukrainian authorities — with US officials crediting the crippling economic sanctions against the Kremlin for the move. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Sunday that both parties are working with mediators from Israel and Turkey to sort out potential topics of discussion — including a cease-fire and a withdrawal of Russian troops — and where and when the talks would be held.

Russian and Ukrainian officials gave their most upbeat assessments yet on Sunday of progress in their talks on the war in Ukraine, suggesting there could be positive results within days. Separately, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Russia was showing signs of willingness to engage in substantive negotiations about ending a conflict in which thousands have died. More than 2.5 million people have fled. -snip- RIA news agency quoted a Russian delegate, Leonid Slutsky, as saying the talks had made substantial progress. "According to my personal expectations, this progress may grow in the coming days into a joint...

The cost of Russia's invasion of Ukraine will become a lot clearer this week, with a previously unthinkable sovereign default looming, more emergency central bank measures likely and a stock market crash guaranteed if it reopens. Moscow's "special operation" in its former Soviet neighbour has cut Russia off from key parts of the global financial markets by the West, triggering its worst economic crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. Wednesday could mark another low. The government is due to pay $117 million on two of its dollar-denominated bonds. But it has been signalling it will not, or...

Pimco is at risk of losing up to $2.6 billion if Russia fails to make its debt payments, after the asset manager bet big against a default, according to a Financial Times report. The investing giant holds $1.5 billion in Russian Federation-linked government bonds, the report said, and it had sold $1.1 billion in credit default swaps, or CDS, on Russian sovereign debt at the start of 2022. That means Pimco is vulnerable to lose out on two fronts — the bond holdings and the CDS — if Russia does default on its sovereign debt, which Fitch Ratings has warned...

The Moscow stock exchange will stay shut Wednesday, Russia's central bank said, bringing the closure well into the second week. The central bank also halted sales of foreign currency, as tough sanctions threaten to crush Russia's economy. The Russian ruble is trading at less than 1 cent, and the country's stocks are seen as "uninvestable". Moscow's stock exchange remained shuttered Wednesday, extending its closure well into a second week, as escalating sanctions against Russia threatened to hobble the country's economy. Russia's central bank has opened trading on its currency market, even as it separately stopped the sale of foreign currencies....

Russia will soon be unable to pay its debts, according to a leading credit ratings agency. Fitch Ratings downgraded its view of the country's government debt, warning a default is "imminent". The move comes amid increasing international sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. A credit rating is intended to help investors understand the level of risk they face in buying a country's debt - or bonds. A low rating means the chances of not getting repaid is considered to be high - and so an investor will charge more to lend to that country. This week, Moscow itself...

S&P Global slashed Russia’s credit rating on Friday for the second time in a week, stating that recent capital controls measures are increasingly likely to cause a default. The sovereign is now rated CCC-, for both its local-currency and dollar debt. That is two notches above a default level. A week ago, Russia was rated investment grade. The speed of its descent into the deepest levels of junk status is unprecedented, according to an S&P spokesperson.