Russia Bond Trading at a Two-Year High Despite All the Hurdles

Mounting reputational risks, costly legal letters, and approvals from internal committees are just some of the challenges traders and hedge funds are facing when it comes to buying and selling Russian bonds. And yet, the volume of corporate-debt trades is at a two-year high.

The average daily value of trades on dollar-denominated Russian corporate bonds this month was $156 million as of March 24, according to data from MarketAxess. That’s double this time last year, and the most since March 2020. The bonds of Yandex, Lukoil, Gazprom, Novolipetsk Steel and Russian Railways were among some of the most traded.

The ...