Technical default may be declared in Belarus today
Belarus did not pay for Eurobonds in dollars
People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak writes about this in his telegram channel.
According to Zheleznyak, before June 29, Belarus had to pay a coupon on Belarus-2027 Eurobonds in the equivalent of $22.9 million. As a result, on June 29 they paid the coupon in Belarusian rubles.
As a result, the Fitch rating agency downgraded the country's long-term rating to pre-default C. Until July 13, Belarus had to make a payment in dollars. Otherwise, the agency promised to declare default.
Just yesterday, the Ministry of Finance of the BR announced that it was forced to pay in Belarusian rubles, since Citigroup and Citibank stopped working with the country and its payments on Eurobonds due to sanctions. BR insists that the situation is force majeure, but says that Fitch does not think so. Judging by this statement, the BR failed to make payments in dollars, as required by the conditions, and the country receives the status of a technical default. There will be an official communication from Fitch today,” writes Zheleznyak.
In fact, this means a death sentence for the Belarusian economy.