Russia Plans New Bond Scheme To Skirt Sanctions

Russia’s finance chief said Moscow is planning a new system for making foreign bond payments similar to the rubles-for-gas scheme in an effort to prevent a historic sovereign default after Washington ended a key sanctions exemption that raised Russia’s chances of defaulting on its debt. Anton Siluanov, Russia’s finance minister, was cited by Vedomosti on May 30 as saying that the new system that is in the works would basically mirror the one in place that lets foreign buyers of Russian natural gas settle the transactions without…