Russia and Vladimir Putin are on the verge of being completely economically isolated.
The sanctions are hailing Russia. Big banks and riches have already been sanctioned, and the nation has also been excluded from the international payment system Swift.
Russia no longer has the same money as before the invasion of Ukraine, which is why the credit rating agency Fitch Rating has downgraded its debt from category B to C.
And this is the second downgrade this month, because Russia went from Category A to B in early March.
That’s according to several media outlets, including the Guardian.
Alarm bells ringing
According to the Institute for International Finance (IIF), Russia currently owes USD 480 billion to be repaid.
The same media, however, writes that Russia has not yet chosen to default on the large debt, but according to the chief economist at the World Bank, Carmen Reinhart, they are very close.
So that would mean russia and Putin going bankrupt.
So what happens when a nation goes bankrupt? Argentina tried it in 2014. The Argentines did not dare to fly the presidential plane out of the country, fearing that it would be seized by the creditos.
Worse was the country’s ships detained in Ghana.
So Russia could end up in a big headache if the debt can’t be repaid.
The first test of whether the nation can or will pay off the national debt is Wednesday, March 16.