Economics
Bond Gamble Turned Cliffhanger Leaves Russia Stung, Bolder
- Russian debt chief says West applied pressure to stymie sale
- First Eurobonds since 2013 raised $1.75 billion at 4.75% yield
Lenins's mausoleum, center, stands on Red Square near the Kremlin, right, and St Basil's cathedral, left, on Red Square in Moscow.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
It wasn’t the eventual rejection by Euroclear Bank SA that came close to upending Russia’s first Eurobond deal in three years.
For the man who orchestrated the $1.75 billion placement, head of the debt department at the Finance Ministry in Moscow, the decision to make the securities ineligible for the international clearing system was the last of the hurdles thrown up as part of what he called “telephone justice,” enforced by Russia’s adversaries in the West to scuttle the sale. The outcome left all sides smarting and flustered, investors baffled and Russia more emboldened than ever.