Russia plans to issue treasury bonds in yuan next year, Russian officials said on Friday, in a move that signals Russia''s desire to attract Chinese investors into its financial markets. The so-called OFZs, or federal loan bonds, are the main Russian treasury bonds used to finance government borrowing on the domestic market. The planned issue in yuan would be the first such bonds denominated in a foreign currency.
Russia has become keen to attract Asian investors following tensions with the West caused by the Ukraine crisis, which has contributed to a large fall in Western investment inflows. Konstantin Vyshkovsky, head of the Russian Finance Ministry debt department, said that like other OFZs the bonds would be regulated by Russian law and would trade on the Moscow Exchange.
"The volume of the issue of OFZs in yuan on the Moscow Exchange next year may amount to around $1 billion. The issue will be regulated by Russian law," he said at a joint forum of the Moscow and Shanghai Exchanges in Shanghai, according to comments released by the Finance Ministry. He gave no other details about the conditions of the bonds. Sergei Shvetsov, first deputy chairman of the Russian central bank, said that the issue would probably take place around the middle of next year because of the time needed to create market infrastructure enabling mainland Chinese investors to buy the bonds, RIA news agency reported. "Now the Russian central depository and the central depository of China are holding talks about creating a depository-clearing bridge, which would allow mainland Chinese investors to hold the shares in mainland depositories," he said. "We want to attract as much money as possible, particularly from mainland Chinese investors," he said.
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