26 April 2004 01:28
Ministry suggests raising Eurobond issue to $2.5Bln
WASHINGTON. April 26 (Interfax) - The Russian Finance Ministry last week submitted to the Cabinet a draft resolution
on increasing the issue of Eurobonds to restructure Soviet-era commercial debt from $2 billion to $2.5 billion, Deputy
Finance Minister Sergei Kolotukhin told Interfax.
He said that Eurobonds were issued for $1.36 billion in December 2002 to restructure the first tranche of Soviet
commercial debt. The remaining debt runs to $850 million, and Eurobonds for about $900 million will have to be issued to
settle it.
Kolotukhin said there is no connection between the proposal to
increase the Eurobond issue and a recent appeal from the Emerging
"This prompted the need to increase the possible issue size, because the previous resolution restricted it to $2
billion, while we may come up with a somewhat greater figure," Kolotukhin said.
He added that evaluation of the remaining $850 million in debt includes claims for the payment of the debts of Soviet
foreign trade companies. "They run to some $850 million. We should also take into consideration the possibility of
additional claims," Kolotukhin said.
Markets Creditors Association (EMCA). "This is a mere coincidence. The draft was in the making a long time ago,
and we tabled it to the government now," he said.
A week ago, the EMCA complained to Russian government representatives about the slowness of the exchange of the
remaining part of Soviet-era commercial debt for Eurobonds.
Kolotukhin said that the time for exchanging the debt will depend on progress in checking the creditors' claims.
He confirmed reports that after claims for $300 million were examined, claims for $100 million could be satisfied, and
the claims for $200 million required additional examination. [RU EUROPE EEU EMRG GVD DBT] ml tl <>
[Interfax] |
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