Russia has sold bonds denominated in euros for the first time in five years. The bond placement is a part of the “de-dollarization" program started this year. Notably, the yield guidance of these Eurobonds with maturity in 2025 is about 3%. According to banks’ representatives, investor demand for these securities has already exceeded 1 billion euros while the US is not rushing to impose new sanctions against the Russian Federation.
“The demand looks good so far. Primarily, it is happening because new US sanctions are being postponed for now. However, sanctions do not affect Eurobonds directly as the most severe risks are associated with the freezing of dollar transactions,” the official from the Ministry of Finance noted.
Most of analysts do not anticipate Europe to follow the US and impose sanctions against Russia’s euro accounts. Besides, the expected return is considered to be quite high and, perhaps, can convince investors to take a risk.