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| Russia Bond Prices Skyrocket Over 100% in Past Week as Default Risk Tumbles |
| 2022-03-18 |
| [FinanceYahoo] Russia has transferred U.S. dollars to settle coupon payments due Wednesday on two Eurobonds, according to people familiar with the matter. The people declined to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly on the issue. A Treasury spokeswoman said U.S. sanctions on Russia don’t prohibit Russia from making these debt payments, mirroring a similar statement from Wednesday. Russia’s Finance Ministry said earlier on Friday the $117 million payment on the dollar bonds is with Citigroup Inc., and that the nation has fulfilled its obligations to investors. JPMorgan Chase & Co. processed the funds, serving as the correspondent bank Russia used to send the payment to Citigroup, Bloomberg News reported. There are still several steps to go before investors get their cash, and as of 11:00 a.m. in London, five bondholders in Europe say they haven’t received the coupon payments. The wider market interest in the fact that the transfer was in dollars, and Citigroup has the cash, exemplifies just how complicated Russia’s relationship has become with global investor. In the weeks since it invaded Ukraine, the energy-rich nation has become the world’s most sanctioned and saw its credit grade sink well into junk on expectations of a default -- if not on the coupons due this week, then possibly later. A spokesperson for Citigroup declined to comment earlier on Friday. “I can’t remember a time when there has been more uncertainty over a sovereign -- the Argentina default back in 2001 was messy but predictable,” said Gary Kirk, a portfolio manager at TwentyFour Asset Management. “This is far more difficult due to the global sanctions.” Minister Anton Siluanov was cited by RIA Novosti as saying this week that the nation would try to settle the payment in dollars, but if that fails, they’ll use rubles instead. Russia has a 30-day grace period to meet the payment obligations starting Thursday. Some investors are optimistic that bondholders will be paid in dollars. Russian credit swaps on Friday imply a 48% chance of default within a year, according to CMAI data, down from 60% Thursday morning. And its bonds due 2023 and 2043 -- which had two coupons due this week -- are holding gains that helped boost their price by more than 100% this week. Both are still trading at deeply distressed levels -- at around half their par value. |
| Posted by:Slomock Angeng6748 |
| #2 Reuters four days ago: Russia's hard-currency sovereign bonds mostly traded well above par until mid-February, as investors shrugged off Moscow's troop build-up on Ukraine's border and U.S. warnings that an invasion was imminent. The decline since has been rapid, with longer-dated issues now indicated at around 20 cents in the dollar, although trading has all but ground to a halt. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2022-03-18 12:33 |
| #1 Who's behind this? Are the Russian oligarchs making money now or is it corrupt wall streeters? |
| Posted by: Slinetle Platypus2804 2022-03-18 11:19 |