Finance ministry makes 2023 Eurobond payment in rubels

December 29, Pozirk. The Belarusian finance ministry yesterday made rubel payments to Russian investors on the Eurobonds maturing in 2023, its press office reported.

The ministry said it used a separate Belarusbank account to transfer funds to Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NSD), a subsidiary of the Moscow Exchange, that submitted lists of verified Eurobond holders.

Due to persisting Western sanctions Belarus started to develop a long-term mechanism of cooperation with the NSD for Eurobond payments, Belarusian Finance Minister Juryj Selivierstaŭ told journalists in November, setting a deadline for late 2023.

In late June 2022, the Council of Ministers and the National Bank declared their intention to service Belarus’ foreign debt in Belarusian rubels.

Belarus has been depositing rubel interest payments at Belarusbank for a year after Citigroup and Citibank stopped servicing payments on its Eurobonds amid Western sanctions.