On April 4, it was due to make a $649 million payment to holders of two of its sovereign bonds, but the US Treasury blocked the transfer, preventing Russia from using part of its frozen foreign exchange reserves to service its debt.
“Of course we will sue, because we have taken all necessary measures to ensure that investors receive their payments,” Siluanov told the newspaper in an interview.
“We will present in court our invoices confirming our efforts to pay both in foreign currency and in rubles. It will not be an easy process. We will have to very actively prove our case, despite all the difficulties,” he added.
Siluanov did not elaborate on Russia’s legal options and did not say where a court hearing might be held.
The bonds in question were issued under English law, which allows a borrower to defend itself by saying that an outside force made it impossible to meet the obligations, so the court can postpone payment, said Mitu Gulati, a law professor at the University of Virginia.
“So I think Russia is going to argue this but … this is a war … caused by Russia,” said Gulati, also an expert on debt restructuring, adding: “It’s not a completely implausible legal argument. “.
Siluanov has said that Russia will do everything possible to ensure that its creditors are paid.
“Russia tried in good faith to pay foreign creditors,” Siluanov said. “However, the deliberate policy of Western countries is to artificially create a default by all means.”
Russia has not defaulted on its foreign debt since the aftermath of its 1917 revolution, but its bonds have now emerged as a sticking point in its economic dispute with Western countries.
