Russia’s finance chief said Moscow is planning a new system for making foreign bond payments similar to the rubles-for-gas scheme in an effort to prevent a historic sovereign default after Washington ended a key sanctions exemption that raised Russia’s chances of defaulting on its debt.
Anton Siluanov, Russia’s finance minister, was cited by Vedomosti on May 30 as saying that the new system that is in the works would basically mirror the one in place that lets foreign buyers of Russian natural gas settle the transactions without falling afoul of sanctions.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would require “unfriendly” countries to pay for natural gas in rubles by opening several accounts at Gazprombank, then make payments in euros or dollars, which Russia’s settlement infrastructure converts into the Russian currency….