OREANDA-NEWS. Venezuelan authorities made a new payment as part of servicing a $ 3 billion loan issued by Russia “Venezuela made another payment on the debt of Russia”, the press service of the Ministry of Finance told the Russian media, declining to comment on the details of the payment.

In April 2019, Caracas paid Russia about $ 100 million, and in the fall, according to the first vice-premier and the head of the Ministry of Finance of Russia Anton Siluanov, he had to transfer another $ 200. However, in August, US President Donald Trump expanded sanctions against Venezuela, adding to the sanctions list all the country's power structures, including the Central Bank. According to experts interviewed by the Russian business media, among whom was Brian O'Toole, a former senior adviser to OFAC (the US Department of the Treasury's Department of Economic Sanctions), this made it practically impossible to make a cashless payment in dollars.

A Russian source familiar with the history of Venezuelan payments explained earlier that the payment mechanism has been worked out and it implies that payment may not be made in US dollars. “We don’t care what currency to receive”, the source said.

The possible options for making a payment were also called a barter transaction, under which Venezuela will transfer oil or gold to Russia, and even import into Russia about 2 tons of cash US dollars - about the same amount weighs $ 200 million in $ 100 banknotes. Venezuelan international reserves last week fell to $ 7.88 billion, the lowest since 1989, investment bank Caracas Capital said. The weekly reduction amounted to $ 412 million, which Caracas Capital associates with a possible preparation for payment to Russia of $ 200 million.