Ruble payments ruled against, Russia comes closer to default: Report

Russia is closer-than-ever to a default on its sovereign money it owes after an industry body overseeing the credit-default swaps market said on Wednesday that the Kremlin failed to meet its obligations to international collectors when it paid them with rubles earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported.
 
Russia paid bondholders in rubles on April 6 after the US blocked Russia from utilising American banks to channel payments on its dollar-denominated bonds. The Russian Ministry of Finance mentioned it had tried to remit greenback curiosity payments due to bondholders by way of JPMorgan Chase & Co. The 14 counterparties that oversee the credit-default swaps market, together with funding banks, asset managers and brokerage companies, said unanimously on Wednesday that the borrower fell in need of fulfilling its debt obligations, as buyers didn’t obtain dollars, which had been owed.

Yellen, others leave G20 meet as Russia speaks 

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other finance ministers and central bank governors walked out of a Group of 20 meeting on Wednesday when Russian officials began addressing the gathering, according to people familiar with the events. The session had mostly been devoted to economic risks emanating from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine said sources aware of the development. Bloomberg

New US, UK sanctions imposed on Russian bank, oligarchs, crypto miner BitRiver

 The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on dozens of people and entities, including a Russian commercial bank and a virtual currency mining company, while Britain ramped up trade sanctions on Russia, and Russian military generals responsible for what it called atrocities in Ukraine. The US Treasury Department said it designated a virtual currency mining company BitRiver for the first time, alongside more than 40 people, and entities led by US-designated Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev. Britain targeted luxury goods, including caviar, silver and diamonds through import bans and higher tariffs. Latest sanctions will include import bans on silver, wood products, while tariffs will increase by 35 percentage points on some products.  Reuters