Pursuits
Vodka Billionaire Bank Bonds at Risk on Russia Consumer Distress
- Russian Standard Bank bonds slide to less than half face value
- Losses widen in first half amid provisions, eroding capital
This article is for subscribers only.
Deepening distress among Russian borrowers risks triggering the first major writedowns for bank bondholders since the crisis over Ukraine, prices for the securities show.
While Russian Standard Bank JSC, the nation’s second-biggest issuer of credit cards, said in May that its billionaire owner Rustam Tariko will do "everything necessary" to sustain the lending business, its April 2020 Eurobonds have since dropped to less than half their face value. Russians battered by the first recession since 2009 are overdue on 7.8 percent of loans, a surge from 5.9 percent at the start of the year, according to data from the central bank.