Ukraine raises UAH 10 bln from local Eurobonds

Ukraine’s Finance Ministry raised UAH 5.4 bln and USD
164.3 mln (UAH 9.8 bln in the equivalent) at its weekly bond auction on Apr. 28
after a four-week hiatus. The auction receipts came from the placement of 3M
UAH-denominated bonds, as well as 6M and 9M USD-denominated bonds.

MinFin satisfied four out of seven bids for 3M
UAH-denominated bonds with a weighted average interest rate of 11.24% (vs. 9.4%
for 3M UAH-denominated bonds placed two months ago). The bids ranged from 11.0%
to 15.0%, while MinFin’s cutoff rate was 11.3%.

The receipts from placement of 9M USD-denominated
bonds amounted to USD 111.1 mln. MinFin satisfied 11 out of 14 bids at 3.5%
(the same rate for these bonds placed on March 17). The rest of auction
receipts – USD 53.3 mln – came from the sale of 6M bonds to five out of six
bidders with a weighted average interest rate of 3.29%.

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: The
resumption of the weekly local bond auction is a positive sign indicating that
the pandemic-related fear is alleviating both within the government and
business sectors. The jump in interest rates for UAH-denominated debt is being
caused by ever-increasing risks in the economy. Therefore, the recent cut of
the key policy rate by the National Bank of Ukraine by 2.0pp to
8% was “ignored” by the buyers of local bonds.

In the nearest weeks, MinFin is not likely to be
successful in its attempts to boost its receipts at the local debt market. Its
offers are likely to include UAH-denominated bonds with maturities of up to 6M
and local Eurobonds with maturities of up to one year.