Press review: Congress takes aim at Russian debt market and why the US wants Kazakhstan Izvestia: New US sanctions unlikely to deal major blow to Russian bond market A new bill has been submitted to the US House of Representatives. Apart from imposing restrictions on individuals, it also bans American investors from purchasing new issues of Russian bonds in the secondary market, Izvestia writes. Talk about American sanctions against Russia's sovereign debt had been going on for several years before restrictions were actually introduced following the ascent of Joe Biden and his administration to the White House, who prohibited US financial institutions from participating in the primary market for the Russian sovereign debt in April. Following the ban, foreign investors started to reduce their portfolios of Russian government bonds, but the trend reversed in September and foreign investment in the sector grew by 20%. Foreign investors flocked to the Russian financial market largely out of confidence that high tensions between Moscow and Washington were over and there wouldn’t be any harsher sanctions. However, doubts have now returned. Still, Russian experts don't think the odds are high that the idea will be implemented. "The market has shown little reaction as participants have learned to take this kind of news in stride, so we don't see any strong reaction to such initiatives put forward by lawmakers, like it used to be back in 2018, Expert RA Chief Economist Anton Tabakh pointed out. According to him, there are now fewer players on the market who would view Washington’s decisions as crucial. Russia's current budget situation, export prices, and national and global interest rate levels are far more important than sanctions activities, the analyst added. [read more](https://tass.com/pressreview/1341827)