Evraz NTMK to redeem 2024 Eurobonds held in Russian depositories early, pay missed coupons in rubles

MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - Evraz NTMK, a division of Russian steel and mining group Evraz, will redeem Evraz-2024 Eurobonds held in Russian depositories early, as well as pay coupons missed due to sanctions in rubles.

"Evraz NTMK, being a subsidiary of the issuer of the Eurobonds maturing on April 2, 2024 (Evraz Plc), has decided to redeem bonds with ultimate custody in Russian depositories early on January 10, 2024," the company said.

This decision is allowed by the terms of the Eurobond issue, which give the issuer the right to redeem bonds at face value on any date preceding the maturity date by no more than three months on the condition that accumulated coupon income is paid simultaneously, the company said.

Evraz placed this bond issue, which initially totalled $700 million, in the spring of 2019 at a coupon rate of 5.25%.

Along with the principal debt and accumulated coupon income, Evraz NTMK will also pay missed coupons that were not paid by the issuer due to the imposition of UK sanctions.

Lists of holders of bonds to be redeemed will be finalized as of December 20, 2023. The transfer of rights to bonds to new owners in the period from December 20 to January 10 will not be taking into account upon payment. Payment will be made in the ruble equivalent at the Central Bank of Russia's exchange rate as of January 10, the company said.

Evraz, which has been subject to UK sanctions since late April 2022, said earlier that it submitted a request in July 2022 for a license from the UK regulator that would allow it to make payments on Eurobonds, but never received it.

After the imposition of sanctions, the company did not make payments on two Eurobond issues with maturity in 2023 and 2024. Evraz said in March 2023 that it would not be able to partially or fully redeem the issue of dollar-denominated Eurobonds maturing in 2023 despite the fact that it had sufficient liquidity to do so.