The US can punish Russia more in the bond market

Meanwhile, Russia’s interest costs have remained moderate, although the intention of the current bond market sanctions is to “punish the Kremlin by increasing borrowing costs”. The government has been an active issuer of euro-denominated euro bonds in recent years, with a 15-year issue of €1 billion ($1.1 billion) as of recent May with the 2.65% discount. Clearly, this is a hugely important source of cheap, large-scale, and long-term funding for the Putin regime. The list of registered holders includes good and good European and US investment managers.