RUSSIA TO DEFAULT ON MINISTRY OF FINANCE BONDS.

The Russian government announced yesterday that it will be unable to pay off US$1.2 billion in Ministry of Finance bonds–known as MinFins–the third installment of which are scheduled to mature next month. Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov made the announcement during the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. He told reporters that Russia’s efforts “to accumulate money and stabilize the situation” had been unsuccessful. Russia had paid off the first two MinFin installments prior to the government’s economic crisis last August. Kasyanov pledged that the interest payments on tranches six and seven of the bonds will “without any doubt” be paid (AP, UPI, April 20).

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