Tag Archives: sovereign debt

Kazakhstan to issue Eurobond, again

JUNE 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will issue a £2b Eurobond, economy minister Yerbolat Dossayev told local media.

Mr Dossayev didn’t give specific dates for the issue but Reuters reported that Citigroup and JP Morgan are joint book- runners and Kazkommerts Securities and Halyk Finance are joint lead managers for the issue.

This is the second major dollar-denominated Eurobond that Kazakhstan has issued in the last year. In 2014, Kazakhstan issued a $2.5b Eurobond, its first since 2000.

Kazakhstan has been dealing with the fall out of a slide in global oil prices and a dip in the fortunes of Russia’s economy. Although the Central Bank has not stated just why it has borrowed so heavily in the past year, it is likely linked to this economic downturn.

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(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

SOCAR issues $750m Eurobond

MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state energy company, said that it had issued $750m worth of 15-year Eurobonds. It had earlier said that it would issue debt but didn’t specify how much. SOCAR said the debt issue was linked to the fall in oil prices.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Armenia issues $500m bond

MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia issued a 10-year $500m bond with a yield of 7.5%. Governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus have been borrowing to offset a drop in their economies.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Armenia plans bond issue

MARCH 12 2015 (The Bulletin) – Armenia is planning a bond issue to help it through the current financial crisis, Reuters reported quoting sources. Armenia’s last bond was issued in September 2013 and was worth $700m.
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(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

SOCAR plans Eurobond

MARCH 6 2015 (The Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR plans to issue a Eurobond by the end of March, the company’s CEO Rovnag Abdullayev said. Mr Abdullayev said SOCAR was launching the Eurobond because of the slide in oil prices over the past six months or so which have hit the company’s profits.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

IFC and ADB issue lari-denominated bonds

FEB. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Two major inter-governmental financial organisations — the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — have issued lari-denominated bonds for the first time.

The IFC, which is part of the World Bank, issued a 30m lari ($13.2m) bond with an initial yield of 6.924% and the Asian Development Bank issued a 100m lari ($44.2m) bond with a floating yield.

The idea behind the issues is to help boost the Georgian capital markets and to support small businesses.

In a statement, Pierre Van Peteghem, treasury of the Asian Development Bank said: “This bond — the largest by a foreign issuer — will provide a key market benchmark and could encourage more borrowers, both domestic and foreign, to tap the Georgian bond market.”

The ADB explained that profit from the bonds would be given to TBC Bank to lend out to small and medium sized enterprises.

And they need all the help they can get at the moment.

Like its neighbours in the South Caucasus, Georgia is struggling to deal with the fallout from the economic turbulence in Russia. Its lari currency is losing value, making lari-denominated bonds a risky investment.

Still, the drive by the IFC and the ADB to sell lari denominated bonds is a boost for the ailing currency. It also shows confidence in its future. It remains to be seen if the market also holds the same confidence in the lari currency.
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(News report from Issue No. 220, published on Feb. 25 2015)

Azerbaijan’s ratings downgraded

JAN. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Azerbaijan’s debt rating to negative from stable because of the fall in oil prices. It said 44% of Azerbaijan’s GDP and 95% of its exports were linked to the energy industry. Despite calls from various foreign institutions, Azerbaijan has failed to diversify.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)

Armenia plans Eurobond issue

FEB. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s finance ministry said it planned to issue Eurobonds later this year to help it through a tough economic period. A sharp fall in the Russian rouble has hit Armenia with analysts warning of a recession. The finance ministry did not specify the type of Eurobond it was considering issuing.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)

Kazakhstan likely to issue Islamic debt

OCT. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will probably issue another sovereign or quasi- sovereign bond next year following its $2.5b Eurobond issue in October, the head of the Kazakh Central Bank Kairat Kelimbetov told Reuters in an interview. Mr Kelimbetov said another debt issue would likely be made as a sukuk, a bond linked to Islamic banking principles.

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(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Kazakhstan to issue dollar denominated bond

SEPT. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will issue a US dollar denominated bond later this year, its first since 2000, Reuters reported. Government officials have launched a roadshow to drum up support for the debt issue. These are difficult times, though, because of the knock-on effect of sanctions on Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)