Yields on government ruble bonds fell the most in a month after Euroclear Bank SA said it will start operations with Russia’s local debt tomorrow. The ruble retreated as oil, Russia’s main export, declined. So-called OFZ bonds maturing in February 2027 snapped seven days of declines, lowering the yield seven basis points, the most since Jan. 10, to 7.02 percent by 2:06 p.m. The ruble initially erased a 0.2 percent drop against the dollar on the Euroclear announcement before trading down 0.2 percent at 30.0025. Euroclear, which operates the world’s biggest bond settlement system, will start direct settlement of Russian ruble-denominated government debt tomorrow, opening the $100 billion market to foreign investors. Over-the-counter transactions in OFZ will be followed by exchange-traded operations in March, it said. Crude oil declined 0.5 percent in New York to $96.22 per barrel. The news will bolster appetite at the Finance Ministry’s auction of 30 billion rubles of OFZs today, Dmitry Polevoy, an analyst with ING Groep NV in Moscow, said by e-mail. The Treasury sold all 10 billion rubles offered at an auction of 15-year notes today. The average yield was 7.1 percent. It will also offer 20 billion rubles of new 5-year bonds at a yield of 6.20 percent to 6.30 percent, according to a statement on its website yesterday. After an initial rally, the bonds may fall, Polevoy said. “We don’t rule out that ‘buy on news - sell on facts’ action may be a reason for profit-taking for local players and some foreigners already having positions in OFZs since the second half.� To contact the reporter on this story: Vladimir Kuznetsov in Moscow at vkuznetsov2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wojciech Moskwa at wmoskwa@bloomberg.net

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