The facts: Russia appears to have averted the threat of default on its sovereign debt by paying some creditors late interest due on two bond issues. As the grace period on these payments was about to expire (on May 4), the Russian Ministry of Finance announced on Friday the payment of nearly $650 million (€618 million) in coupons and principal to bondholders. Moscow reportedly made this payment without tapping into the reserves frozen by the United States, and the exact origin of the funds used is not clearly established. Specializing in banking and financial litigation, Julien Martinet, a lawyer at the Paris Bar, and founding partner of Swift Litigation, answered our questions: Can Ukraine seize frozen Russian assets abroad to finance its reconstruction? Who was targeted? What steps could Ukraine take? What is the pathway? Could the “ill-gotten gains” mechanism apply to Russian oligarchs? All of this is likely to take time…
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