The countdown to a Russian default has begun again: the next bond payment is in doubt, and the Kremlin is trying to find a way out of the situation. Foreign investors have not yet seen payments on Russian government bonds in their accounts, Bloomberg reports..

As of Friday evening, about $100 million in euro and dollar coupon payments had not been received by investors, beginning a 30-day grace period..

The National Settlement Depository of the Russian Federation assures that “the funds for making payments were withdrawn from the account”.

The Ministry of Finance of Russia, which transferred the money to NSD, believes that it “fulfilled all obligations”. NSD is a registered bondholder. The RF Ministry of Finance thinks that this “may support Russia’s argument that it avoided default, even if the money was not sent to the accounts of individual investors”.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United States banned the Russian Federation from servicing external public debt.

This led to a new wave of talk about default in the aggressor country. A number of experts predict that it could be announced as early as the end of June..

Recall that the pre-default situation in Russia had already developed as of March 16, when preliminary payments were made on external debt obligations. Given the sanctions, experts expressed doubts that the Russian Federation would be able to make these payments in dollars.. However, at the last moment, Russia found the required amount and made payments in dollars..