Russia will not enter the foreign debt market yet

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that although the government has extensive plans for borrowing, the authorities intend to limit themselves to the domestic market. There are no plans to enter the foreign debt market yet. He also said that foreign investors are reserved about payments in rubles on Eurobonds due to sanctions risks.

“We keep quite ambitious plans for borrowing in the financial market. Obviously, borrowings will be made on the Russian financial market. At present, we do not plan to go abroad,” the minister said in an interview with Rossiya 24.

According to him, the government plans to borrow about 2-3 trillion rubles. annually. At the same time, the task was set to minimize the possibility of using the funds of the National Welfare Fund. “And we will work on these tasks. We are currently negotiating with banks and financial institutions regarding the possibilities and capacity of the financial market,” he said.

Mr. Siluanov reminded that foreign investors can receive payments on Eurobonds in rubles, and there are no restrictions on the withdrawal of these funds from Russia. According to him, while foreign investors are rather reserved about this opportunity because of the sanctions.

“A very reserved attitude, since the Ministry of Finance, like a number of our other bodies, fell under sanctions and interaction with the Ministry of Finance is a risk for foreign debt holders. Therefore, we see a very, how to say, reserved attitude towards interaction on obtaining coupon income on bonds,” he added.

Due to sanctions in response to the military operation in Ukraine, Russian companies cannot make payments on Eurobonds in currencies. The Russian government allowed companies to make payments in rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank on the date of payment. However, foreign investors have not yet agreed to receive payments under this scheme.

How Russian companies are trying to comply with the conditions for Eurobonds – in the material “Kommersant” “Issuers dispersed according to strategies”.

Olesya Pavlenko