INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia has made two interest payments on dollar-denominated debt in rubles, the country's finance ministry said Thursday, as Moscow faces
the risk of an external debt default."Funds for the payment of coupons on external bonds of the Russian Federation maturing in 2027 and 2047
(NSD) eurobond payment agency," the ministry said in a statement."Thus, the obligations..
using a new temporary payment system which came into force Wednesday, after sanctions imposed on Ukraine made it difficult for Moscow to
National Settlement Depository that reimburses creditors in rubles at the rate of the Central Bank "to ensure the maximum equivalence of
payments.""The cessation of payments on Eurobonds in foreign currency does not mean the announcement of Russia's default on foreign debt,"
foreign debt is necessary in order to hang the label 'default'," said Siluanov, according to Forbes
"It looks like a farce."If the creditors are Russia-based, the funds are transferred "bypassing foreign intermediaries" but if the assets
Russia said it would start paying its foreign debt in rubles after Washington ended an exemption allowing Moscow to make the payments in
sovereign bond due on April 4.The country last defaulted on its foreign currency debt in 1918, when Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin refused
to recognize the obligations of the deposed tsar's regime.AFP contributed reporting
