© . FILE PHOTO: A Russian ruble banknote can be seen in front of a falling stock chart in this image, taken March 1, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration By Megan Davies NEW YORK () -Russian coupon payment on a government bond maturing in 2029 processed by correspondent bank JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:), a source said Monday, the second time in recent days, the country appears to have avoided default. Russia would pay $66 million to bondholders for the bond on Monday. Last week it paid the interest owed on two government bonds, allaying doubts about its willingness and ability to honor foreign debts after severe sanctions were imposed by Western countries following the invasion of Ukraine. By making the payment, Russia temporarily avoided its first default since a 1998 financial crisis and the first on international bonds since the 1917 revolution. JPMorgan worked with the US Treasury Department on Monday to get the necessary approvals, the source said. is with the situation. The payment had moved to the next step before the money was handed over to bondholders, the source added. was unable to identify which bank acted as paying agent on the bond. Last week, JPMorgan processed the payment as a correspondent bank and handed it over to Citigroup Inc (NYSE:), which, as paying agent, distributed the money to bondholders. Russia has 15 outstanding international bonds with a face value of about $40 billion. Prior to the Ukraine crisis, about $20 billion was held by investment funds and money managers outside of Russia. The country’s next test is a $102 million payment on March 28, and then on March 31, there is a $447 million payment to be made in dollars. The largest payment of the year — and the first full $2 billion “principal” repayment — is due on April 4. Even if Russia is willing to pay, complications could arise in the coming weeks and months, especially for dollar-denominated bonds, after a temporary license issued by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control expires on May 25. Russia will have to pay nearly $2 billion in external government bonds before the end of the year. If Russia does not make any of its bond payments within the specified grace periods, or pays in rubles where dollars or euros are specified, this is a standard situation. The Russian ruble stabilized on Monday and OFZ government bonds returned to trading, albeit in a volatile manner. Stocks and bonds were last traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange on Feb. 25 and the central bank has yet to say when stock trading can resume. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, calling it a “special operation.” Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data on this website is not necessarily real-time or accurate. All CFDs (Stocks, Indices, Futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and therefore prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price meaning prices are indicative and not suitable for trading purposes . Therefore, Fusion Media does not bear any responsibility for any trading losses that you may incur as a result of using this data. Fusion Media or anyone associated with Fusion Media accepts no liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any information, including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals on this website. Be fully informed about the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest forms of investment possible.
