Spox: Early to speak about interest to bonds for capital return

MOSCOW, Dec 29 (PRIME) -- It is early yet to speak about Russian investor interest to the Eurobonds that the government plans to offer for a capital return, the process has not been launched yet, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

“Wait. Nothing has been launched yet… That’s why it is early to speak about interest yet… The process has not been launched yet,” he said.

In late December, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to issue special currency government bonds in 2018 for a capital return.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said then the ministry will create such a possibility for Russian investors as part of an existing program of government foreign borrowings. Foreign borrowings in 2018 could exceed the planned amount of U.S. $3 billion in 2018 in case of excessive demand of Russian investors, he said. The ministry will prioritize domestic investors, but will not sell the entire volume of Eurobonds to them, he added.

The 2018 budget encompasses foreign borrowings of up to $7 billion in 2018. Of the total, the Finance Ministry plans to borrow $3 billion through placing new issues and swap old issues for another $4 billion of bonds.

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