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finance the repayment of $300mn in amortizations on an existing Eurobond, the company’s top manager Yevhen Kravtsov told Bloomberg News, as reported on December 3. Kravtsov said he hopes the market conditions will have improved by then for a Ukrainian issuer, after Ukraine receives the next IMF loan tranche and hopefully a de-escalation of tensions with Russia caused by the naval clash at the weekend. As an alternative, the company is also considering organising a syndicated or bilateral international loan, as well as possibly borrowing on the domestic market. If that doesn’t work, the company will decide to cut its investment program for the next year to accumulate enough funds for the bond repayment, Kravtsov said. The company’s 2018 financial plan preliminarily estimates its 2019 capital expenditures at UAH32.5bn (over $1.1bn). In 2018, the company expects to spend UAH16.4bn ($580mn) on capital expenditures, vs. UAH26.9bn foreseen by the financial plan, the company’s CFO Andriy Riazantsev told a European Business Association meeting on November 28, as reported by biz.liga.net news site. Ukrzaliznytsia’s $500mn Eurobond will have two large amortization payments in March and September next year of $150mn each.
56 UKRAINE Country Report December 2018 www.intellinews.com