Russia's last-minute bond payment to avoid default still wasn't enough, triggering a failure-to-pay event, credit panel rules

• A credit panel ruled that a failure-to-pay event occurred after Russia breached the terms of a bond payment.
• Moscow failed to include $1.9 million for interest in a bond payment last month, Bloomberg reported.

The Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee determined that Russia triggered a "failure-to-pay" event after breaching the terms of a bond payment.

Early last month, Russia paid $649 million to bondholders on debt that was due April 4. After originally trying to pay in rubles amid Western sanctions, Moscow paid in dollars just before a month-long grace period was about to expire.

But Russia failed to include $1.9 million in interest that accumulated during the grace period, triggering credit default swaps that could lead to a payout of as much as $3.2 billion in debt, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Still, Moscow won't see a broader default outside of this event, because it had already completed the principal payment.

But Russia will continue to face challenges in staying current with its foreign debt payments amid Western sanctions.

Last week, Russia already lurched toward default as the US Treasury allowed a key bond payment exemption to expire. Now, US investors can no longer receive payments from Moscow, though Russia responded by saying it would still pay its debts in rubles.