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June 28, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Russia raises $2.5bn with 2029 and 2035 Eurobonds
Ben Aris in London
Russia raised $2.5bn selling dollar-denominated Eurobonds maturing in 2029 and 2035 on June 20, the finance ministry said.
The sale of Eurobonds maturing in 2029 with a yield of 3.95% raised $1.5bn while the 2035 Eurobond, with a yield of 4.3%, raised $1bn, the ministry said in a statement.
The initial benchmark yield on the 2029 Eurobonds was around 4% and about 4.45% for the 2035 Eurobonds, the ministry said.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said this month that current market conditions were highly favoura- ble for a placement of Russian sovereign Eurobonds.
Russia tapped the global bond market in March, raising $3bn in a new dollar-denominated Eurobond and 750mn euros in a top-up issue
of an existing euro-denominated Eurobond.
The sale's organizers were VTB Capital and Gazprombank .
Andrey Solovyov, VTB Capital's head of debt capital markets, said Russia was selling Eurobonds keeping foreign investors in focus.
Solovyov, who earlier told Reuters conditions were benign for Russia's sovereign bond placement, said demand for Thursday's Eurobonds exceeded $8bn at its peak.
British investors bought 55% of the 2029 top-up issue. They also bought 64% of the 2035 issue, he said.
Solovyov also said that US investors accounted for between 24% and 29% of buyers of Russia's Eurobonds.
Russian car market expected to decline by 3-10% in 2019
Market participants believe that declining con- sumer confidence and incomes will drive Russian passenger and light commercial vehicle (LCV) to 3-10% passenger in 2019, Reuters reported on June 24 citing the survey of industry unions.
Back in January the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee expected the market to increase by 3.6% this year, and the reversal of car market
sentiment reflects a broader across the board downward revision of Russia's outlook after
a disappointing first quarter.
Extensive state support contributed to the recovery of the passenger car and LCV market in 2017-2018, but the sales declined for two consecutive months in April and May 2019.