Let's talk about securities that have been waiting in the wings for more than 35 years. We are talking about 1982 bonds. Another name by which they are known is OGVVZ. Decryption - bonds of the state domestic winning loan, the last of its kind, issued in the Soviet Union. Are they worth today? Or is it plain paper? Can they be exchanged for real money? Where can this be done? We will answer these and other questions in the article.
What it is?
A bond is one of the varieties of securities. At its core is a debt document. That is, it gives authority to its owner, holder to receive from the issuer (person, institution issuing the bond) the amount of money indicated in the paper. It can be equal to the amount of debt, and include interest.
In most cases, bonds are issued to accumulate capital, which will later be used to implement a large-scale project. The profit obtained as a result of the latter's operation allows the issuer to pay off debt to holders in the future.
Who issues bonds? The issuer can be both an organization, a legal entity, and the state. Depending on the type of loan, such securities are divided into the following:
- External
- Internal
- Departmental.
About Soviet bonds
As for the 1982 debt securities, they were issued by the USSR to raise funds to the state treasury. Subsequently, payments on them were recognized as the state debt of the Soviet Union. He moved to the Russian Federation, considered the successor state.
Sberbank was considered the agent of the Ministry of Finance for payments on these bonds. He was responsible for the sale and purchase of these securities, as well as for compensation for them.
Why did you get interested?
Why has increased public interest in securities issued decades ago? The popularity returned to them thanks to the actions of the Russian 74-year-old pensioner, a resident of the Ivanovo region, Y. Lobanov.
The man, like many citizens of the former Soviet Union, was the holder of 1982 bonds. However, he began to actively resolve the issue of obtaining the required funds for securities. Initially, a pensioner appealed to various courts. But I did not receive any satisfactory answer.
As a result, Y. Lobanov decided to seek help from the European Court of Human Rights. The case was considered and, moreover, decided in favor of a pensioner. The 1982 bonds held by Y. Lobanov were valued at about 1.5 million rubles. It was paid to the pensioner as financial compensation.
This case under discussion just became the reason for interest in long-forgotten bonds.
How much was released?
Bonds of the loan in 1982 (another name - "Brezhnev loan") were issued in huge circulation. In terms of its volume, one could even say that it was like the second currency of the state.
There are still no exact data on how many securities have been sold. The reason for the inaccuracy is that the 1982 government bond issue then increased to uncontrolled sizes.
But one thing is clear: the Russian Federation, as the successor of the USSR, had to pay its citizens a huge debt on these securities.
Who did they apply for?
The 1982 winning bonds were printed for sole ownership by citizens. They assumed an annual income of 3%. Three face values of bonds were issued - 25, 50 and 100 rubles.
By purchasing them, citizens did not expect to make a good profit. Not everyone can call such a loan of funds to the state voluntary. The Soviet Union at that moment only needed to receive a certain sum of money from the population.
As many expected, bond payments were delayed indefinitely. There was no accurate information about how much a security is worth in a given period, by what value its value will increase after a certain period of time. If citizens returned bonds, they received money for them in the amount of less than face value.
That is why people were in no hurry to receive payments on 1982 domestic loan bonds. Why did many of these papers "wait" for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
After the USSR collapsed
After the collapse of the USSR, holders of the 1982 winning loan bonds were in an uncertain position. The state, which was supposed to return money to them with securities, ceased to exist.
But in 1992, the Russian Federation invited citizens to sell their 1982 bonds. Few took advantage of this proposal: the price was symbolic (translated already with new money) even in comparison with the face value. Not to mention the fact that every year, under the terms of the loan, interest should have been calculated on this amount.
For example, a 100-ruble (according to Soviet money) bond was bought at a price of 160 rubles with new Russian money. Therefore, most paper holders did not take advantage of this offer.
Exchange for Russian bonds
Let us examine the situation in 1992 in more detail. Then, the exchange of 1982 Soviet bonds for similar securities of a Russian loan started. Thus, since October 1, 1992, holders of these bonds had two options:
- Get small, but cash for your Soviet bonds. As we have already mentioned, the 1982 100-ruble bond was valued at 160 Russian rubles.
- Exchange Soviet bonds for similar securities of the 1992 Russian loan.
All necessary operations were then carried out in Sberbank branches. The same banking organization, together with the media, informed the population about the process.
The repurchase of debt securities of the Soviet Union in 1982 was completely stopped on December 31, 1994. But by that time, far from all citizens had decided what to do with their bonds. Many of them stayed at home.
Legislative Act 1995
We again remembered the 1982 bonds of the winning domestic loan in 1995. The reason for this is a legislative act signed by the president. It was devoted to the obligation of material compensation for all savings to former citizens of the Soviet Union. The act clarified: not only bank deposits were compensated, but also the lost income on securities.
According to this law, 1982 domestic government bonds were transferred to "debt rubles." State experts estimated their value according to the new Russian currency, made calculations so that the price of the bond did not “burn out” after inflation.
Payments for securities in 1982 held the state. But again, not all citizens decided to take advantage of the new offers. It was a matter of monetary compensation:
- The maximum payout on bonds for ordinary depositors is 10 thousand rubles.
- The maximum bond payment for veterans of the Great Patriotic War is 50 thousand rubles.
After denomination
The situation with the bonds of the Russian loan in 1992 was complicated by the fact that on 01/01/1998 the ruble was denominated. Accordingly, the face value of these securities was recalculated in accordance with the current price dynamics for that time.
As a result, this ratio became relevant:
- Denomination 500 rubles - 50 kopecks.
- Denomination 1000 rubles - 1 ruble.
- Denomination 10 0000 rubles - 10 rubles.
The Ministry of Finance determined that, under these conditions, bonds were redeemed from the population before 1.10.2004. Then this period was extended - until December 25, 2005. This determined Federal Law No. 173 (2004).
The latest samples of bonds of the Russian loan in 1992 were purchased by the state in December 2005. To date, the repurchase of these securities of the Russian Federation has been discontinued.
How are things this year?
1982 USSR bonds are still kept by former citizens of the Soviet Union. But do they have any value for their owners today?
Today it is no longer possible to receive payments on bonds from the state structure. The state does not deal with this issue.
The only way for bondholders is to turn to private companies specializing in the purchase and sale of various securities. However, Soviet bonds are not quoted on the modern stock market. It is possible to find a buyer who will purchase them only at a symbolic price, which is even lower than the original (25, 50, 100 rubles) in Soviet money. As practice shows, a citizen today will not receive more than 500 modern Russian rubles for his bonds in 1982.
In the network you can find information about the corporation ASB (Agency for insurance deposits). In particular, there is such data:
- Purchase of bonds with a face value of 100 rubles for 49 thousand modern Russian rubles.
- Purchase of bonds with a face value of 50 rubles for 25 thousand modern Russian rubles.
However, such information is not official and verified. Most of all, it is like an ordinary newspaper "duck."
The owners of Soviet bonds have one more way out - to leave their securities in “standby mode” until those times when no real redemption will be offered for them. There are two reasons for this decision:
- The repayment of these government bonds has no statute of limitations. That is, in fact, they will not turn into ordinary pieces of paper even after 100 years.
- Federal Law No. 162 permits that these Soviet bonds in the future may be transferred to the group of targeted debt obligations of the Russian Federation.
At the moment, real payments cannot be received. Only symbolic. Therefore, it makes sense to sell such a bond for a fee to a collector.
The fate of citizens' savings
A special commission of the Ministry of Finance gathered about the pre-reform savings of former Soviet and now Russian citizens. During the discussions, the following was established:
- The internal state debt of the USSR will not turn into any securities in the future. Otherwise, its payment threatens with grave consequences for the domestic state budget.
- Compensation for pre-reform savings of citizens will be paid until December 25, 2020. This applies to Soviet deposits in Sberbank, transfers to Rosgosstrakh, certificates of the same Sberbank, treasury bonds of the RSFSR and the USSR.
- The 1982 bond obligations were identified as fully fulfilled. This issue is closed by the state.
Summing up all of the above, we can say that today it is unrealistic to receive real money for your 1982 bonds. Theoretically, there is hope that this will become possible in the future, because these securities are unlimited. The population had a chance to exchange these bonds for cash in 1992-1994. Then it was possible to make an exchange for bonds of the Russian loan of 1992, payments on which were made until the end of 2005.