Page 41 - GEORptMar20

8.5 ​Fixed income
8.5.1​ ​Fixed income - bond news
Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation to borrow €300mn by issuing international bonds
The Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC), one of the largest state-owned enterprises in Georgia, plans to borrow €300mn in April by issuing bonds on the international financial market, according to a Business Media report citing a company press release.
“Full redemption of $250mn bonds will be made," a statement, released by GOGC and the Georgian Ministry of Economy, read.
GOGC issued 5-year eurobonds worth $250mn on the London Stock Exchange in 2016 to refinance a previous same-sized issue in 2012.
The funds raised under the April 2020 eurobond move will be partly used for the construction of the Gardabani 3 thermal power plant.
“The proceeds from the issuance of new bonds (€300 million, approximately $330mn) will mainly be used to repurchase eurobonds issued in 2016 ($250mn), with the remaining amount (approximately $70-80mn) to be used for partial financing of construction of Gardabani 3. Most of the investment in Garbadani 3 will be financed from own funds, though. The new bond is issued in euros because of the significantly lower interest,” GOGC was quoted as saying.
GOGC completed construction of the second block of the Gardabani plant in late 2019. The 230-megawatt facility has already been put into test mode and has supplied electricity to the state power system.
According to the economy ministry, the company made "significant profits" in 2019. In the first six months of last year, GOGC reported Georgian lari (GEL) 32.2mn (slightly more than $10mn) in net profit.
9.0​ Industry & Sectors 9.1 ​Sector news
9.1.1 ​Oil & gas sector news
Azerbaijani gas to reach EU by end of 2020 with 25-year Italy supply contract signed says Socar executive
A 25-year supply contract has been signed with Italy and the first Azerbaijani gas is expected to start flowing to the European Union before the end of 2020, Vitaly Baylarbayov, deputy vice president of Azerbaijan’s national oil company Socar, was quoted as saying by EURACTIV in an interview​ o​ n February 13.
The $40bn Southern Gas Corridor (SCG), made up of interconnected pipelines linking Azerbaijan to Italy, is “almost ready”, he added.
Speaking on the 37th floor of the Socar tower in Baku, Baylarbayov reportedly said that the only part of the corridor still needing completion is the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), “the readiness of which is 91%”.
The SCG’s main source of gas supply is the Shah Deniz field, located in the economic zone of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea. The project links three pipelines with a total length of almost 4,000 km: South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) linking Azerbaijan with Georgia, the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) across Turkey and the Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) linking Greece, Albania and Italy with an offshore section crossing the Adriatic.
41​ GEORGIA Country Report​ March 2020
​​www.intellinews.com