“The bankruptcy of the Russian state is a matter of time,” Van der Leyen told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, quoted by the official Russian news agency TASS.
Van der Leyen said sanctions were hitting the Russian economy “week by week” and that “exports of goods to Russia had fallen by 70%”.
“Hundreds of big companies and thousands of professionals have left the country. GDP [Produto Interno Bruto] In Russia, it is expected to fall by 11%, according to current estimates. “
Russia’s external public debt is $ 59,500 million (over 55 55,000 million at current exchange rates), which is 20% of public debt, according to data from the Russian Ministry of Finance quoted by TASS.
In total, the Russian Federation has 15 active securities maturing between 2022 and 2047.
In response to sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized the ruble of the national currency, the ruble, to be used to pay off foreign currency debts to foreign countries, including the imposition of sanctions on Moscow.
According to the order quoted by TASS, debtor companies or the government can open an account in the name of the foreign debtor in Russian banks and make payments in rubles at the exchange rate of the central bank on the day of payment.
Lenders from countries that do not impose sanctions can receive money in euros or dollars, if the Russian debtor has special recognition.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov this week acknowledged that the freezing of the Russian government’s foreign currency accounts stemmed from international sanctions and made it harder to meet debt obligations.
“Lack of access to our foreign currency accounts alone makes it difficult to meet sovereign debt obligations,” Silvanov said in a letter to his Brazilian counterpart, Paulo Guedes.
In a letter to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Siluanov called for Brazil’s diplomatic support with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the G20 to prevent “attempts to discriminate in international financial institutions and multilateral forums.”
“Nearly half of the Russian Federation’s international reserves have been frozen, and foreign trade transactions, including those with our partners in emerging market economies, have been blocked,” the Russian minister explained.
Siluvanov had previously said that, according to Dass, Russia would pay off its foreign currency debt only if its foreign accounts were frozen.
It is considered a default when a country is unable to fulfill the promises it has made with creditors.
On April 9, the rating agency S&P Global Ratings downgraded Russia’s foreign exchange payments to a “selective default” level, seeking rubles to repay the Moscow dollar.
In a recent interview with a Russian newspaper, Silvanov said that the West would go to court if Russia failed, although he did not specify which legal event he was referring to.
Following the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Russia was subject to economic and financial sanctions from the European Union and countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan or traditionally neutral Switzerland.
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