Bloomberg announces the first default since 1918 in Russia on the night of June 27

On the night of June 27, for the first time since 1918, Russia defaulted on sovereign debt in foreign currency, writes Bloomberg.

According to the agency, the grace period for about $100 million in late payments on government bonds expired on Sunday, and in the event of not providing the payments, the deadline is considered a default event. At the same time, Bloomberg points out that "the default is mostly symbolic and means little to Russians."

We are talking about dollar bonds of the Ministry of Finance, the balance of which for $552 million Russia was supposed to pay off on April 4. However, at that time, the United States blocked Russia's ability to pay its debts from frozen reserves, and the Ministry of Finance initiated the fulfillment of the obligation in rubles.

Western market participants prepared to default on these bonds, citing an uncoordinated change in the currency of payment, but the Ministry of Finance at the end of April still managed to bring funds in dollars to foreign investors.

On June 22, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the payment of foreign currency debt in rubles. For this purpose, ruble accounts of type “I” were opened for all foreign investors without their personal presence. The next day, the Ministry of Finance paid off Eurobonds in rubles for the first time under the new scheme.