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Weekly Lists
March 15, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 29
bne:Credit Turkey’s Cukurova
Holding considering asking public lender Ziraat Bank to restructure $1.6bn loan
Ukraine to place eurobonds for $350mn
Turkey’s Cukurova Holding is reportedly considering whether to ask public lender Ziraat Bank to restructure a dollar-denominated loan it took out from the bank five years ago.
Cukurova has so far only made interest payments on the $1.6bn loan and will seek a meeting with the bank before a pre-scheduled payment in July, should it decide to ask for the debt to be reorgan- ised, Bloomberg quoted people familiar with the plans as saying on March 13. The 10-year loan has a three-year grace period.
The holding company used the money in 2014 to reclaim a 13.8% stake in Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri. It had pledged the stake to Rus- sian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s LetterOne Investments, formerly known as Alfa Group, under a debt agreement nine years earlier.
Ukraine is placing additional eurobonds for $350mn due in November 2028, according to a posting on the website of the Finance Ministry of Ukraine.
Thus, the total nominal volume of the eurobonds grew to $1.6bn. The coupon rate is 9.75% per annum. The cost of the placement is not disclosed.
Payments to investors are scheduled for March 21, 2019. J.P. Mor- gan international investment bank acts as organizer of the issue.
As reported, Ukraine in October 2018 placed $750mn five-year eurobonds and $1.25bn 10-year eurobonds. Premiums on the first issue were 9% per annum and on the second one –
9.75% per annum.
S&P Global Ratings has confirmed Kazakhstan’s sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB-’ with a stable outlook. The outlook reflects the agen- cy’s expectations that the government's balance sheets and country's external balance sheets will remain robust within the next two years.
S&P said that it may raise the rating in the event of improvements in monetary policy effectiveness, including as a result of a material strengthening of the banking system. A prolonged and sharp fall
in oil prices or production may put the ratings under pressure, the ratings agency said.
S&P cited the overall weakness of the Kazakh banking system, the central bank's limited independence and the country’s highly centralised political environment as factors constraining the Central Asian nation’s credit rating.
S&P confirms Kazakhstan sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB-’ with stable outlook