MinFin to likely prepare Eurobond issue in 2016 - Storchak
MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - The Russian Finance Ministry plans to prepare an issue for external borrowing this year, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told journalists.
"Time will tell. More likely, we will nonetheless prepare an issue," Storchak said when asked about the likelihood that Russia would seek to borrow on the external market in 2016.
Storchak previously said he saw little point in borrowing on foreign capital markets given sanctions against Russia, even though they don't apply to sovereign debt, because foreign investors might still incur negative consequences if they buy Russian bonds.
Later, the director of the Finance Ministry's debt department, Konstantin Vyshkovsky, said foreign investors remain interested in Russian paper and that Russia might place the planned foreign borrowing limit of $3 billion this year in one Eurobond issue or several with different terms and denominated in various currencies.
"We will monitor the market situation, await the optimal window of opportunity for placing our instruments on the best terms," Vyshkovsky said.
Storchak said that his colleagues interpret the fact that many foreign investors are buying federal loan bonds (OFZ) "very optimistically."
"They are eager to take them. For the foreign investor, there is no difference [buying OFZ or Russian Eurobonds]. But the risk is nonetheless the same: the Russian Federation," he said.