Russia paid some coupons on source dollar debts | Photo credits: Bryan Jones / Creative Commons
by Karin Strohecker, Sujata Rao and Marc Jones
LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) – Some Russian debt coupons that came due this week were paid in dollars, two market sources learned on Thursday as Russia avoided a default that would have been the first in a century.
Russia said on Wednesday it had issued a payment order to honor the coupon settlement of $117 million (€106.4 million).
“The coupon was paid, against my expectations, and in dollars,” a source said. Another person said his client, a holder of Russian sovereign bonds, had received payment.
Other creditors said they had not yet received payment but were optimistic after receiving bond payments from a series of state and private Russian companies.
Another source told Reuters that JPMorgan, Russia’s correspondent bank, processed the payment sent by the state and credited it to Citi. It will be checked and then distributed to the various bondholders, the source said.
Citi declined to comment.
The settlement of the coupons, which was due on March 16 but has a 30-day grace period, was seen as the first test of whether Moscow will meet its debt obligations since the sanctions were introduced. Western. (French version Anait Miridzhanian)