Russia Is Very Close To Defaulting On Debt For First Time In Decades

Russia is reportedly very close to defaulting on its national debt for the first time in decades.

As the war goes on, the implementation of tough Western sanctions has proved costly to Russia's economy.

The country has found it difficult to keep up with its payments of $40 billion on outstanding bonds and has pretty much been cut off from the global finance system.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) effectively blocked Moscow from making payments in late May, reports Reuters.

Dennis Hranitzky, head of sovereign litigation at law firm Quinn Emanuel, said: "Since March we thought that a Russian default is probably inevitable, and the question was just when.

"OFAC has intervened to answer that question for us, and the default is now upon us."

This is set to be Russia's first major default on international bonds since the Bolshevik revolution, more than 100 years ago.

Zia Ullah, partner and head of corporate crime and investigations at law firm Eversheds Sutherland, added: "Russia saying it's complying with obligations under the terms of the bond is not the whole story.

"If you as an investor are not satisfied, for instance, if you know the money is stuck in an escrow account, which effectively would be the practical impact of what Russia is saying, the answer would be, until you discharge the obligation, you have not satisfied the conditions of the bond."

The European Union has also implemented new measures that essentially make it even harder for Russian oligarchs to evade sanctions.

The European Commission said in a statement: "While the Russian aggression on Ukraine is ongoing, it is paramount that EU restrictive measures are fully implemented and the violation of those measures must not be allowed to pay off."

EU Vice President Vera Jourova added: "The violation of EU sanctions is a serious crime and must come with serious consequences. We need EU-wide rules to establish that."

President Joe Biden recently praised the continued unity of the alliance during a pre-summit sit-down with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"We’ve got to make sure we have us all staying together," Mr Biden said

"You know, we’re gonna continue working on economic challenges that we face but I think we get through all this."

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