Moscow court to hear Eurobond holder’s lawsuit over rubel payments

July 27, BPN. The Moscow City Court is scheduled to hear on August 28 a lawsuit by a private investor demanding Eurobond debt recovery from Belarus.

A.P. Marchenkov filed the lawsuit against the Belarusian finance ministry.

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 to comply with Western sanctions.

Rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s downgraded Belarus’ credit rating: the former said its default was inevitable, and the latter described the rubel payments as default.

The Belarusian Ministry of Finance criticized those decisions and keeps paying Eurobond interest in rubels.