Report: Min sees Russian investors buying sanctioned state debt

MOSCOW, Apr 11 (PRIME) -- Russian investors may replace foreigners if the U.S. imposes sanctions on the country’s debt, and the government will be able to raise all the necessary money from the domestic market, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview to Rossiya 24 television channel broadcast on Wednesday.

“Any restrictions are bad and sensitive for the economy of the Russian Federation. If we speak about the debt in general, we have about 1 trillion rubles of private borrowings this year. It is obvious that we may reject all market borrowings given the current situation, we will get the same amount of additional revenue even if we have to redeem (sovereign bonds) and use money of the National Wealth Fund,” he said.

“We will still be present on the internal market despite of possible restrictions…But even if these restrictions are imposed, our local investors would definitely be able to substitute the share of foreigners that are players of the OFZ federal bond market.”

This will raise the yield on bonds, but not critically. “Though for foreign investors, which are formidable institutional investors…this is a reliable asset with a good yield. That is why it will be a shot in a foot for anyone who rejects it,” he said.

He said that the ministry will wait and track the development of the situation before offering new Eurobonds, but no new international paper was planned soon.

Russia will fulfill all obligations under any external conditions, he added.

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