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46 I Eurasia bne June 2018
Uzbekistan hoping for $1bn international bond market debut but still undecided
bne IntelliNews
Uzbekistan is hoping for an international bond market debut worth $1bn but remains undecided on going ahead with a Eurobond issuance with the move yet to be approved by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Nikkei Asian Review reported earlier this week, citing Uzbek Finance Minister Djamshid Kuchkarov.
It was reported in February that Uzbekistan plans to sell between $200mn-300mn of Eurobonds in 2018 to create a benchmark for Uzbek corporate borrowers. The country has named Raiffeisen Bank International AG as a potential issuer this year. The plan marks Uzbekistan out as the third Central Asian country to issue Eurobonds – the first to go ahead
was oil-rich neighbour Kazakhstan, while Tajikistan made a $500mn debut last year. However, as the appetite
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for emerging markets has started cooling Uzbekistan may not necessarily find itself amid the most favourable conditions for issuing debt.
Uzbekistan last year began preparations to obtain a sovereign credit rating by signing a memorandum with Citigroup, noting that Citibank “will become
having lifted strict currency controls. The controls long fed the Uzbek som black market, scaring away potential foreign investors who could not, for instance, arrange to easily repatriate profits. Uzbekistan is hoping that a sov- ereign credit rating will allow the coun- try’s banks and enterprises to receive foreign loans at lower interest rates.
“The plan marks Uzbekistan out as the third Central Asian country to issue Eurobonds”
[the country’s] consultant.” Raiffeisen Bank helped Tajikistan issue its first Eurobond, last September.
If followed through and completed, the Uzbek move would further improve foreign investment opportunities for Tashkent, with Uzbekistan recently
Kuchkarov has previously said that if the country’s sovereign rating gets a good review, the country plans to go ahead with its bond issuance plans.
“We want Uzbek companies to also be in the international financial market,” Kuchkarov has said. “Our aim is to