Russia

As foreign companies seek to exit Russia over the war in Ukraine, they face the prospect that Russian bankruptcy law could be used to seize assets and even lead to criminal penalties, Reuters reported. Here is how that could work. In the U.S., bankruptcy laws are meant to give indebted companies a fresh start. Distressed companies in the U.S. usually enter bankruptcy willingly, and the law lets them retain existing management and control over assets. Russia's law, however, generally prioritizes the needs of creditors who are owed money.

Western companies that maintain a presence in Russia to provide essential goods such as food and medicines are trying to strike a balance between President Vladimir Putin's government and advocates of Ukraine pulling them in opposite directions, Reuters reported. More than 400 companies have withdrawn from Russia since the launch of its attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to a list compiled by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management.

Some creditors have received payment, in dollars, of Russian bond coupons that fell due this week, two market sources said on Thursday, meaning Russia may for now have averted what would have been its first external bond default in a century, Reuters reported. The Russian finance ministry said earlier that it had sent funds to cover $117 million in coupon payments on two dollar-denominated sovereign bonds.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Tomislav Pili writes, Russian bankruptcy, which is increasingly likely to occur soon, will not be felt by the Croatian financial system, and global finances should not be shaken by such a scenario either, according to Croatian analysts, Croatia News reported. After announcing on Monday that the Russian Ministry of Finance will pay out interest to foreign investors in rubles instead of dollars, the story coming out of Moscow altered Russia's state treasury has announced an order has been sent to pay 117.2 million U.S.

Russians are starting to feel the economic pinch after Western countries imposed an unprecedented set of sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported. Following weeks of mounting tensions, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a land, sea and air invasion on February 24, triggering a wave of financial restrictions that have plunged the value of the rouble, skyrocketed inflation and left many jobless.

Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo will detail the impact of the Ukraine conflict on its 2022 earnings when it reports first-quarter results in May, its CEO told a financial conference, according to a person who attended the event, Reuters reported. Addressing the Morgan Stanley European Financials conference on Thursday, CEO Carlo Messina confirmed the bank's financial targets but said details on the net income impact for this year would be provided when Intesa next reports earnings.

Intesa Sanpaolo said on Wednesday that its loans to Russian and Ukrainian clients amounted to 5.1 billion euros net of guarantees from credit export agencies, which is around 1% of the total for Italy's biggest bank, Reuters reported. Intesa added in a statement it was analyzing its exposure to Russia and Ukraine to understand how to better handle risks in light of the European Union's decision to phase out Russian fossil fuels by 2027. Of the overall loan figure, some 4 billion euros are cross-border, with oil and gas firms accounting for half of the total.

Russian steel and mining company Severstal has received permission from Moscow to make a $12.6 million interest payment due Wednesday on its dollar bonds, but the firm warned that paying and transfer agent Citigroup Inc. may refrain from processing the transaction, Bloomberg reported. “At the moment we certify that there are no obstacles from Russian law side for the company to make the payment,” Severstal said in a Wednesday filing. But, it added, “given the recent developments around the company, we have grounds to believe that” Citigroup won’t process the coupon payment.

Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 12.54% as of March 11, its highest since late 2015 and up from 10.42% a week earlier, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, with the weakening rouble sending prices soaring amid unprecedented Western sanctions, Reuters reported. Inflation accelerated sharply as the currency fell to an all-time low and amid signs of increased demand for a wide range of goods, from food staples to cars, on expectations that their prices will rise further.

Russia is due to pay $117 million in interest on two dollar-denominated sovereign bonds on Wednesday — the first such payments since its invasion of Ukraine which sparked a raft of sanctions from Western capitals and countermeasures from Moscow, according to a Reuters analysis. Russia's finance ministry said on Monday it had sent an order to a correspondent bank for the payment of coupons on eurobonds amounting to $117.2 million, which are due on Wednesday.