MOSCOW, December 16 The only country to which Russia’s debt increased at the end of 2022 was India, according to an analysis of World Bank data.
So, last year Russia had only three sovereign creditors — India, France and South Korea. The largest debt was to India: over the year it grew by a quarter, to $777 million. Moreover, India for the first time provided Moscow with a loan of $190 million at the end of 2020. In 2021, the volume of debt increased 3.2 times.
Debt to two other countries continued to decline: to South Korea — by 25 percent, to $209.8 million (the minimum since 1992), to France — by 1.8 times, to $177.8 million.
Approximately 21 percent of Russia's external debt is owned by bondholders. Over the past year, this share fell by 32 percent, to $67.9 billion. The bulk of the debt — 82 percent — falls on large institutional creditors not associated with states. Over the past year, this debt fell by 17 percent, to $307 billion.
In general, Russia’s entire external debt in 2022 amounted to $376.1 billion, a decrease of 20 percent. The rate of decline has become a record in modern history — before that, the maximum was recorded in 2000 at 18.5 percent.