Page 115 - RusRPTJan23

8.5 Fixed income
Lower Inflation supported demand for OFZ. In the first week of December, the Ministry of Finance placed three OFZ issues worth RUB220bn while the total demand reached RUB492bn.
In October-November, MinFin placed bonds in the amount almost 11 times higher than planned for 4Q22 (Rb1.648tn vs RUB150bn). In the third week of December, the demand for OFZ will be likely supported by reinvestment of part of the amount from OFZ 26220 maturity payments (RUB350bn).
MinFin has been actively selling OFZ in the last month of 2022 to raise money to fund the budget shortfall and this policy is expected to continue in 2023.
8.5.1 Fixed income - bond news
Russia’s government has tasked the Finance Ministry with issuing state bonds worth no more than RUB2.5 trillion rubles and $1bn equivalent in 2023. The corresponding decrees were published by the government on the portal of regulatory acts on Thursday. "<...> The Russian Finance Ministry should place state securities in 2023 with a nominal value in foreign currency in the amount no more than $1.02bn in the equivalent at par value," the document said. The placement of bonds in rubles is allowed in an amount not surpassing 2.566 trillion rubles ($39.5bn). The government’s decrees will take force on January 1, 2023.
In December, Metalloinvest is to place one more CNY issue of CNY1bn at
3.5%. Also, SG-Trans, AgroKuban Resurs, STM, IEK, Glorax, Sokolov and Domodedovo plan to offer 2-5Y Rb1-5bn issues on the primary market.
Russian gas giant Gazprom has already replaced seven issues of Eurobonds with local bonds of the same parametres, and has to replace 15 issues more, Ignat Dirks, deputy director of a Gazprom department, said on December 9 during a congress.
“Gazprom entered the situation with the largest bond portfolio on the market. At the moment of introduction of sanctions against the National Settlement Depository, the portfolio amounted to an equivalent of U.S. $24.5 billion and comprised 24 series. There also is a 25th series in the Japanese yen, but there are no Russian holders there,” he said.
The share of Russian holders of the bonds ranged from 30% to 40% and even to 50% depending on the issue, of which individuals accounted for about
115 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com