24 February 2021
Ukraine’s Finance Ministry raised
UAH 7.1 bln and USD 123 mln (the total equivalent of UAH 10.6 bln) at its weekly
bond auction on Feb. 23 after raising UAH 9.4 bln (in the equivalent) at the
auction last week. The auction receipts came from the placement of 3M, 12M,
16M, 2Y and 3Y UAH-denominated bonds, 1Y USD-denominated bonds and 2Y
USD-denominated bonds.
The largest UAH receipts – UAH 2.1 bln – came from the
sale of 16M bonds to 15 out of 31 bidders with weighted average interest rate
of 11.15% (vs. 11.30% for these bonds last week). MinFin satisfied 25 out of 28
bids for 2Y bonds for UAH 1.9 bln with weighted average rate of 11.80% (vs.
11.84% for these bonds last week). The sale of 1Y bonds to 13 out of 29 bidders
brought UAH 1.4 bln. The weighted average interest rate for these bonds
declined to 10.80% from 10.96% last week.
The interest rate for 3Y bonds stayed at 12.05%, the
same as a week ago. The sale of these bonds to all 16 bidders brought UAH 1.2
bln. The rest of UAH auction receipts for UAH 518 mln came from the sale of 6M
bonds to 15 out of 41 bidders.
MinFin satisfied 34 out of 37 bids for 1Y
EUR-denominated bonds with weighted average interest rate of 3.70%.
Evgeniya Akhtyrko: As a week
ago, MinFin was quite successful in raising UAH receipts while lowering
interest rates for short-term and mid-term bonds. It is a good trend indicating
that the current demand for UAH-denominated debt remains strong, and the risk
perceptions by market participants might be improve.
The placement of local Eurobonds was not in the
initial plan of MinFin for this auction. Apparently, the government tried to raise
more receipts in foreign currency in order to rollover the redemption of
USD-denominated bonds on Feb. 11 for USD 470 mln, as the receipts from previous
placements of local Eurobonds in February were not that impressive. Total
proceeds from local Eurobond placements in February reached equivalent of USD
456 mln.
Next week, MinFin plans to offer 3M, 1Y, 2Y and 3Y
UAH-denominated bonds, while UAH 11.7 bln bonds will mature. The auction
receipts are likely to bring UAH 6-10 bln.