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Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin (archive photo): Moscow accuses the West of wanting to force the country into an artificially induced insolvency
Photo: Aleksey Nikolskyi;
Kremlin Pool / dpa
The US rating agency Moody's has determined that Russia has defaulted on payments of interest due to non-payment of interest to foreign creditors.
With the expiry of a corresponding deadline on Monday, the investors would have received "no payments" totaling $ 100 million (94.4 million euros), Moody's said on Tuesday night.
"According to our definition, we classify that as a default." However, Moody's can no longer officially rate Russia's creditworthiness because of the sanctions.
Further defaults on payments due are "probable," Moody's said.
It is the first time in more than a hundred years that Russia has defaulted on foreign currency sovereign debt.
Russia had rejected corresponding reports on Monday as “unjustified”.
Moscow assured that the payments due had already been made in May, “in foreign currency”.
Russia denies insolvency
The Russian Ministry of Finance announced that two interest payments were blocked because of the sanctions and therefore did not reach the creditors in time.
The fact that the investors have now received no money is not the result of a default, but is due to "actions by third parties".
Russia has been largely cut off from the international financial system by sanctions imposed for its war of aggression against Ukraine, making it much more difficult for the country to pay off its debts.
Moscow therefore accuses the West of wanting to force the country into an artificially induced insolvency.
czl/dpa/afp
