Market conditions for issuing a sovereign Eurobond are currently favorable and Russia is considering the move, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said, according to Finanz.ru.
In March, Russia raised $3 billion in a new dollar-denominated Eurobond and 750 million euros ($850 million) in a top-up issue of an existing euro-denominated Eurobond.
“We would have borrowed now probably on better terms than at the beginning of the year,” Siluanov told reporters on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday.
He declined to say if that could happen this month or later.
Deputy finance minister Sergei Storchak was cited as saying on Saturday that Russia could top up an existing Eurobond issue denominated in the same currencies as before.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a G20 ministerial meeting in Japan, Storchak did not rule out Russia tapping the market for a second time this year, according to Russian news agencies.
VTB Capital, the investment bank that organized Russia’s latest Eurobond issues, also said last week that market conditions were favorable for a Eurobond issue.
Speaking about oil, Siluanov said it would not be fair for the Russian government to compensate oil companies for shortfalls that they might face because of the global deal to cut production that Russia and other major crude producers have signed.
Igor Sechin, head of Russian oil giant Rosneft, said the company was discussing possible compensation with the government in the event that a global deal to cut supply is extended.
