MADRID, 30 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of the Russian Federation plans to implement a mechanism similar to the one it is using to charge for gas exports in order to service the obligations to investors of its sovereign debt denominated in foreign currency, after that the United States last week blocked payments in dollars on Russia’s debt.
Speaking to the Russian newspaper ‘Vedomosti’, the Russian Federation’s Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, assures that the system will work in the same way as the one used for Russian gas exports, only “in reverse”, so investors open accounts in foreign currency and rubles in a Russian bank and give instructions for the sale of foreign currency.
“How is the payment for gas in rubles: foreign currency is credited to us and exchanged for rubles (on behalf of the gas buyer), and this is how the payment is made. The Eurobond settlement mechanism will work in the same way , only in the other direction,” explains Siluanov.
In this way, Moscow hopes to make payments without going through the Western settlement infrastructure, which will allow direct interaction with foreign holders of Russian debt.
“Now we are finalizing this mechanism, we will discuss it in the government. After that, we will present an offer to our investors,” adds Siluanov.
In this sense, in statements to the ‘Rossiya 24’ channel, the Russian minister expresses his confidence that the mechanism will be prepared before the next expiration of Russia’s foreign debt, which will take place at the end of June, on the 23rd and 24th.