Kyrgyzstan taking bids for bond issues worth 1 bln rubles and 1 bln som from Dec 14-20

MOSCOW. Dec 15 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan's Finance Ministry is taking bids for two-year bond issues worth 1 billion rubles and 1 billion som from December 14 until December 20 inclusive, a financial market source told Interfax.

The coupon rate on the ruble bonds will be 14.5% per annum, corresponding to yield of 15.31% to maturity and that on the som bonds 15.5%, yielding 16.43%. The coupons will be quarterly.

The placement organizers in Russia are Gazprombank, Russian Agricultural Bank, BCS CIB and Derzhava Bank. The settlement agent in Russia is Gazprombank.

The ruble bonds should start trading on the exchange on December 26 and the som bonds on December 25. The placement will take place on the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange.

Finance Minister Almaz Baketaev told Interfax on December 6 that the Kyrgyz Finance Ministry planned to place a debut issue of bonds in Russian rubles.

"We have an agreement with Gazprombank. One of the points concerns the placement of bonds. On December 5 in Moscow, we held a meeting with 40 Russian investors on planned bond issues. We will conduct the placement through the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange in order to give it a push. The issue of bonds in rubles can create a precedent for placing government bonds on the KSE in different currencies to diversify sources of financing and expand the circle of investors," Baketaev said.

The country's Ministry of Finance began placing government securities on the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange for the first time in May 2023.