Russia says it paid $117 million interest order

Russia says it paid a $117 million interest order despite creditors and sources familiar with the issue telling Reuters the money has not been received. 

The country has two dollar-denominated sovereign bonds with coupon payments of $117 million that were due on Wednesday. 

Russia said the payment had been made and would announce when it went through to Citibank, the payment agent. 

To pay creditors, countries will send payments to a payment agent, usually a bank, who will then put it in the creditors’ accounts, according to Reuters. 

As Western sanctions have taken hold of Russia, all eyes have been on whether Russia will continue its payments. The country has not defaulted on external borrowing in more than a century.

The $117 million payment has a grace period of 30 days. Sanctions could complicate the payment process, as Russia has been shut out from much of the global financial system.

“The fact is that from the very beginning we have said that Russia has all the necessary funds and potential to prevent a default — there can be no defaults,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

“Any default that could arise would have an entirely artificial character,” Peskov added.

The country owes $40 billion from 15 international bonds, Reuters noted.