LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Emerging sovereign borrowers,
particularly those with higher ratings, have been venturing into
the Eurobond markets as spreads stabilise.
Secondary market debt spreads swelled to their widest levels
in nearly six years after the mid-September collapse of Wall
Street giant Lehman Brothers sent global capital markets into a
tailspin, scuttling the fund-raising plans of most borrowers.
Spreads have narrowed since then, from around 900 basis
points over U.S. Treasuries to around 650 bps on Wednesday, when
euro zone member Slovenia launched a 1 billion euro three-year
bond.
Following is a summary of proposed international bonds from
sovereign and quasi-sovereign borrowers in central and eastern
Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
(OFFICIAL) indicates confirmed by borrower.
CENTRAL, EASTERN EUROPE
--------------------- ALBANIA ------------------------
ALBANIA - Albania said on Nov. 7 it would postpone plans to
issue a debut Eurobond for 200-300 million euros because the
current market turmoil would have made it too costly. But the
country said it would tap the markets as soon as they stabilise.
(OFFICIAL)
------------------- CZECH REPUBLIC ----------------------
CZECH REPUBLIC - The Czech Republic has mandated Barclays
Capital, Ceska Sporitelna and Deutsche Bank to lead manage a
euro-denominated bond, the finance ministry said on Jan 26
(OFFICIAL)
- The Czech Republic said on Dec. 1 that it plans to tap
foreign debt markets for up to $3.7 billion next year,
representing about half of its 2009 requirements. (OFFICIAL)
---------------------- LITHUANIA -------------------------
LITHUANIA - Lithuania's prime minister said on Dec 29 that
it still wanted to raise a Eurobond, after cancelling a 400
million euro issue in 2008, but would have to wait until the
second half of 2009 for market conditions to improve. Lithuanian
raised 600 million litas ($249.2 million) from banks in
December. (OFFICIAL)
--------------------- POLAND -----------------------------
POLAND - Poland may issue bonds in yen and Swiss francs in
the first half of 2009, a deputy finance minister told Reuters
on Jan 21. (OFFICIAL)
--------------------- RUSSIA ---------------------------
RUSSIA - Russia may reconsider its debt strategy if oil
prices remain below $30 for a long time, Russia's deputy finance
minister said on Dec 22. He said possible sources of funding
included the domestic debt market, the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund and Eurobonds. (OFFICIAL)The
comments have prompted speculation of a Russian Eurobond or
exchange of existing debt for a new benchmark.
GAZPROMBANK - Gazprombank, the banking arm of Russian state
energy firm Gazprom, is using up to $300 million in cash to
repurchase some of its $700 million FRN due April 2010 and its
$1 billion loan note due Sept 2015, dealer manager Credit Suisse
said on Jan 23.
RZhD - Russian state railway RZhD said on Nov. 11 it would
not go ahead with plans for a Eurobond issue of up to $4 billion
until the second half of 2009 (OFFICIAL). RZhd was looking to
raise a syndicated loan worth $500 million-$1 billion, banking
sources said on Nov 18.
---------------------- SLOVAKIA ----------------------------
SLOVAKIA - The chances of Slovakia issuing a
euro-denominated bond in 2009 are minimal due to unfavourable
market conditions and strong demand for domestic debt, but the
country may launch a yen-denominated bond this year, the state
debt agency said on Jan 20. The agency had said in November it
wanted to resume issuing euro-denominated international bonds
this year. (OFFICIAL)
--------------------- SLOVENIA -----------------------------
SLOVENIA - Slovenia launched a 1 billion euro bond at a
yield of mid-swaps plus 165 basis points on Jan 28, one of the
lead manager banks said on Jan 28. Lead managers are JPMorgan,
Societe Generale and UniCredit Banka.
- Slovenia's finance ministry plans two 1 billion euro
issues in 2009, the finance ministry said on Jan 5.
--------------------- TURKEY -------------------------------
TURKEY - The Turkish Treasury said on Dec 29 it expected
foreign bond borrowing in 2009 to amount to 5.6 billion lira
($3.7 billion). (OFFICIAL) Turkey issued a $1 billion 8-year
bond on Jan 8.
--------------------- UKRAINE ------------------------------
UKRAINE - Ukraine plans to issue Eurobonds worth $2.0
billion in 2009, higher than the $1.67 billion planned for this
year, according to the draft budget submitted on Sept 16. Before
political and financial woes sent the country to the IMF for a
$16.4 billion loan, Ukraine had said it would issue a $500
million Eurobond in Sept 2008. (OFFICIAL)
MIDDLE EAST
--------------------------- ISRAEL -------------------------
ISRAEL - Israel hopes to raise $1 billion with a
euro-denominated bond in 2009 if market conditions improve, a
senior finance ministry official told Reuters on Jan. 7.
(OFFICIAL)
AFRICA
---------------------- GHANA -----------------------------
GHANA - Ghana has postponed plans for a $300 million 7-year
bond due to poor global market conditions, one of the banks
arranging the deal said in Sept 2008. (OFFICIAL)
---------------------- KENYA -----------------------------
KENYA - Kenya issued an 18.5 billion shillings ($232.4
million) infrastructure bond on Jan 28, after saying on Dec 9 it
was exploring ways to plug a budgetary shortfall this fiscal
year other than a planned debut $500 million Eurobond. Kenyan
officials say plans for the sovereign bond will be reviewed in
March (OFFICIAL)
--------------------- NIGERIA ----------------------------
NIGERIA - Nigeria will issue a $500 million 10-year bond to
raise funds for infrastructure costs, the country's finance
ministry said on Sept 10. (OFFICIAL)
-------------------- TANZANIA ----------------------------
TANZANIA - Tanzania has postponed plans to issue a debut
Eurobond totalling at least $500 million until market conditions
improve, the president said on Jan 2. (OFFICIAL)
-------------------- UGANDA ------------------------------
UGANDA - Uganda will not issue a planned debut Eurobond to
fund infrastructure projects due to the turmoil on the world's
credit markets, the central bank said on Dec 12. (OFFICIAL)
(Compiled by Carolyn Cohn and Sebastian Tong)
