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Belarus plans to tap Russian bond market with ruble-denominated issue in July

MINSK, 9 July (BelTA) – Belarus Finance Ministry is planning to tap the Russian market with a RUB5-10 billion issue by the end of the year, Belarus Deputy Finance Minister Andrei Belkovets said at the Fitch Ratings conference “Belarus in 2019: Review of the macroeconomic situation and the banking sector”, BelTA has learned.

“We will publish the indicative terms of the issue this week. The road show will begin on 22 July, with the deal to be closed by the end of the month,” he said.

He recalled the the Belarusian retailer Evrotorg placed bonds in the Russian market last week. According to him, the terms of their placement is one of the reference points for the Finance Ministry. In any case, the rate will be clearly below 10% per annum,” Andrei Belkovets noted.

He said that this will be the first tranche worth RUB5-10 billion in July. “We have a program for RUB30 billion in six trenches. We will do this gradually. We will begin with one small tranche and see how things are flaring. We will start from RUB5 billion, see what the appetite of investors is and maybe place RUB10 billion. The target is RUB10 billion. I think there will be the demand for the sovereign bonds,” he noted.

Andrei Belkovets stressed that the rate will be the key criteria. “We are targeting the rate in the first place. Our goal is not to borrow more but to borrow cheaper,” he said.

As it was previously reported, the Bank of Russia has registered five bond issues totaling RUB30 billion.

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