Russia’s Polyus wins bondholder approval to switch currency for Eurobond payments

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s largest gold miner Polyus has received permission from holders of three Eurobonds to make payments on the debt in Russian roubles or another alternative currency, the company said on Friday.

Polyus had previously asked bondholders to accept payment in a currency other than the U.S. dollar as Western sanctions on Russia’s economy and payments systems had raised the risk of payments in dollars being blocked.

Several Russian companies have faced trouble making payments on their international bonds since February, when Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine and the West hit Moscow with sweeping sanctions in response.

Bondholders owning at least 75% of Polyus’ issues had to approve the company’s request to change the terms of the bond agreement to allow payments to go ahead in an alternative currency.

The company said holders owning 77.07% of the nominal value of outstanding bonds maturing in 2028 with a coupon value of 3.25% agreed to the terms.

Polyus had previously received similar approval for its 2023 5.25% Eurobond issue and a 2024 issue with a 4.7% coupon rate – with bondholder approval rates of 76.70% and 75.88% for the proposals.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)