There has been a lot of chatter over the past few weeks about Russian companies loading up on debt in anticipation of increased sanctions, and even the Russian government planning a bond issuance in Chinese Yuan for the first time out of concern that western investors may be shut out of the sovereign debt market as a result of sanctions. U.S. sanctions targeting the debt of certain Russian companies are well-known and have been in place since 2014. But what is underlying this renewed concern about Russian sovereign debt?[…]