BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/08/2007

Belarus not placing Eurobonds before ABN Amro deal closes

MINSK. Aug 23 (Interfax) - The Belarussian Finance Ministry will not place a debut Eurobond issue until a deal with ABN Amro bank closes, First Deputy Finance Minister Andrei Kharkovets told Interfax.

The prospects for placing the Eurobonds depend on the need for resources, he said.

"If the state program requires additional resources we'll borrow. But we still haven't implemented previous agreements with potential investors, namely ABN Amro. When we close those deals we'll know the outlook and for placing the Eurobonds," he said.

ABN Amro in June said it would provide the Belarussian government a long-term loan for up to 500 million euros. Raiffeisen Zentralbank said at the start of the year it would consider providing up to 1 billion euros.

Kharkovets said the talks with ABN Amro were moving along under previous agreements. "We expect that the rating from Standard & Poor's will help intensify talks with potential investors," he said.

"It's too soon to say the (Eurobond) placement will definitely be made. We are potentially and technically ready to place Eurobonds this year," he said.

Standard & Poor's assigned Belarus a long-term foreign currency rating of B+ and a long-term rating on the national scale of BB, with short-term ratings of B.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/305548/news.aspx