Ep 64 ft. Mitu & Mark

Is Russian Sovereign Debt Now Worthless? Sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation are denying it access to foreign exchange reserves, and Russian bonds, trading around par just a short while ago, are now in distressed territory. Bloomberg (quoting former-Elliott guru Jay Newman) says the bonds are worthless, emphasizing that Russia hasn't waived sovereign immunity. It turns out that there is a lot of weird stuff in the Russian bonds, although they might not be as worthless as one might think. We dive into some of the details. Also: why is Ukraine insisting that it will continue to pay its own sovereign debt? Surely if any country had a good excuse for non-payment, it would be Ukraine. Producer: Leanna Doty