NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - Russia's coupon payment on a sovereign bond maturing in 2029 was received on Monday, a bondholder said, adding the payment was in U.S. dollars - the second time in recent days the country appears to have averted default.
Russia had been due to make a $66 million payment to bondholders on Monday on the bond.
The payment was processed by correspondent bank JPMorgan Chase & Co, a separate source said on Monday.
Russia last week paid interest due on two sovereign bonds, easing doubts about its willingness and ability to honor external debt after harsh sanctions were imposed by Western nations following its invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, JPMorgan processed the payments as correspondent bank and handed them to Citigroup Inc, which as payment agent distributed the funds to bondholders.
While Russia's payments on sovereign bonds have been received, debt obligations from Russian companies linked to sanctioned billionaires have run into hurdles due to Western sanctions triggered by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Russian steel producer Severstal, whose main shareholder, Alexey Mordashov, was sanctioned by the European Union on Feb. 28, was having trouble paying the holders of its debt, a source close to the company said. Evraz, the Russian steelmaker whose biggest shareholder is sanctioned Russian Roman Abramovich, said on Tuesday a coupon payment due March 21 was settled with the paying agent after it was temporarily blocked by a Western correspondent bank.
Russia's next test for its sovereign payments is a $102 million payment on March 28 and after that on March 31 there is a $447 million payment that must be made in dollars. Its biggest payment of the year - and its first full repayment of "principal," of $2 billion - is due on April 4 .
(Reporting by Davide Barbuscia; Editing by Megan Davies, Andrea Ricci and Richard Pullin)
