This Friday, russia prevented a default on its debt by making a last-minute payment from foreign exchange reserves outside the country.
This was announced by representatives of the US Treasury Department, reports "Voice of America".
The amount of the payment has not been disclosed, but the russian Finance Ministry said earlier that it had tried to make a payment of $ 649 million, payable on April 6, through two bonds to a US bank, JPMorgan Chase.
At that time, the strengthening of sanctions imposed during the war in Ukraine did not allow to accept payment, so Moscow tried to pay the debt in rubles.
Investors and rating agencies did not believe that russia would be able to convert rubles into dollars before the end of next week's 30-day grace period. This has led to speculation that Moscow is heading for a historic default.
Russia has not defaulted on its foreign debts since the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 when the collapse of the russian Empire led to the creation of the USSR.
We are reminding that on April 4 the Ministry of Finance of the russian Federation transferred the means for payment of the coupon income and redemption of Eurobonds in rubles as the correspondent bank didn't allow to make payment in dollars. The international rating agency S&P Global Ratings downgraded russia's foreign currency ratings from CC / C to SD / SD, which means a selective default. S&P informed that russia has 30 days to prevent default.
On March 9, Fitch downgraded russia's credit rating to pre-default.
According to analysts at the American financial corporation Morgan Stanley, russia risks losing its solvency in the coming months. The company's analysts predicted a default of "Venezuelan style" in Russia in April. Earlier, JPMorgan analysts warned that sanctions for a military invasion of Ukraine could lead to default.
The White House said earlier that the United States and its European allies were actively working to expand sanctions against russia so that it would have to choose between defaulting and using the remaining foreign exchange reserves. Russia's finance minister has threatened to "sue" if the West defaults on Eurobonds. However, he did not specify the legal possibilities of russia, nor did he say where this court hearing could take place.