Sovereign debt: Russia resets sovereign risk perceptions

Bond return shows just how much things have changed since Russia’s default in 1998.

In the end not even the eruption of a volcano in Iceland could deter Russia’s return to the international capital markets after more than a decade. On April 21, the sovereign raised $5.5 billion through a dual-tranche offering with five-year and 10-year maturities.

The deal achieved the government’s aims of repricing the sovereign curve and establishing a liquid benchmark that it hopes will pave the way for issuance from quasi-sovereigns and corporates.

The transaction was the government’s first Eurobond since it defaulted on $40 billion of domestic debt in August 1998.

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