Azerbaijani State Securities Committee head: It is time for placing Azerbaijan's sovereign and corporate bonds on international markets

Azerbaijani companies show interest in placing their securities on international capital markets. It is the right time for this, Rufat Aslanli, the chairman of the Azerbaijani State Securities Committee said at a press-conference at the headquarters of the New Azerbaijan Party.

"It is time to place both sovereign and corporate bonds on international capital markets, as liquidity is very high now and the yield is low. Moreover, our country and the whole region, as well as the situation on the developing markets of the region are very attractive for investors", Aslanli said.

Earlier, SOCAR said that it plans to hold a road show of Eurobonds in 2011. Aslanli said that SOCAR appealed to the Azerbaijani State Securities Committee for consultations on the Eurobonds. "However, discussions are at the level of consultations. It does not give a reason to say that there are specific initiatives," Aslanli said.

"The company's legal adviser has already been tasked with preparing a contract and a legal avenue for investors," he said. "This takes a long time. Afterward, we will make presentations on various markets," Gasimov said.

The debut bond placement is expected to reach $500 million, which will be available in five tranches of $100 million each over a five-year period, Gasimov said.

"The roadshow will be held in 2011 when the company is ready," Gasimov said. "Today, the U.S. market is more interesting for SOCAR. The company would also like to place eurobonds in the European market, as well as the Asian market, particularly in Singapore, as SOCAR Trading has a representative office there and we are expanding our activities in the country," he said.

The debut issue was planned for 2009, but then SOCAR postponed its plans to improve the situation on the global capital markets, SOCAR Economic Affairs Vice-President Suleyman Gasimov said earlier.

SOCAR's consultant on the bonds issue the American Citibank offers to place them in the U.S., because American market will have great interest.

Azerbaijan and its economic facilities did not implement plans to place Eurobonds on the foreign markets. The Finance Ministry did not determine terms for placing Eurobonds worth $500 million. In addition, several Azerbaijani banks including the Azerbaijani International Bank ($200 million), Unibank ($150 million) and Bank Standard ($150-200 million) also postponed their plans.


/Trend/