Russia will take legal action if the West tries to force it to go bankrupt over its public debt, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia on Monday, sharpening Moscow’s tone in its economic battle with the West. “Of course we will sue, because we have taken all the necessary measures to ensure that investors receive their payments,” Siluanov told the newspaper in an interview. “We will present in court our bills confirming our efforts to pay both in foreign currency and in rubles. It will not be an easy process. We will have to prove our case very actively, despite all the difficulties.” The watch turns to Russia’s default AFTER S&P DECREASE Siluanov did not elaborate on Russia’s legal options. Russia is facing its first sovereign foreign bankruptcy in more than a century after making arrangements to repay an international ruble bond earlier this week, even though the payment was in US dollars. Russia will take legal action if the West tries to force it to default on its public debt, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia on Monday, April 11, 2022. (Sputnik / Dmitry Astakhov / Pool via REUTERS) Last week, Siluanov said Russia would do everything possible to ensure its creditors were paid. read more “Russia has tried in good faith to repay its foreign creditors,” Siluanov said on Monday. “Nevertheless, the deliberate policy of the western countries is to artificially create a man-made bankruptcy by any means.” Siluanov said Russia’s foreign debt was about 20 percent of its total public debt, which stood at about 21 trillion rubles ($ 261.7 billion). Of these, about 4.5-4.7 trillion rubles were external liabilities. US BLOCKS RUSSIAN DEBT PAYMENTS ATTEMPT TO INCREASE PRESSURE IN MOSCOW Russia has not defaulted on its foreign debt in the wake of its 1917 revolution, but its bonds have become a hotbed of economic turmoil in the West. A bankruptcy was unthinkable until recently, with Russia being hailed as an investment vehicle in the wake of its February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation” and which intensified in eastern Ukraine on Sunday. “If there is an economic and financial war against our country, we are forced to react, while at the same time fulfilling all our obligations.” REUTERS / Sergei Karpukhin / FILE (REUTERS / Sergei Karpukhin / FILE) “If an economic and financial war is waged against our country, we are forced to react, while at the same time fulfilling all our obligations,” Siluanov said. “If we are not allowed to do it in foreign currency, we do it in rubles.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS (1 $ = 80.2500 rubles)
