Uzbekistan’s Eurobonds on London Stock Exchange see demand exceeding $8.5bn

Uzbekistan eyes to follow up an upcoming $1 billion international bond market debut with regular debt sales while the country’s banks are also expected to seek funds overseas, fund managers said on Tuesday, Uzreport said.

Members of a delegation told fund managers during a roadshow in London the government was planning to sell two tranches with a 5- and 10-year maturity with each tranche at least benchmark sized, or $500 million.

“They talked about potentially coming back to the market again,” said Kevin Daly, investment director at Aberdeen Standard Investments, who met the delegation. “Debt-to-GDP is at around 20 percent, and they said they were comfortable if it was as high as 30 percent.” 

Finance Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov told some fund managers the country planned another eurobond sale as soon as 2020. 

Two Uzbek banks were planning to tap international markets in the first and second half of 2019, fund managers were told. Possible lenders named were Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (UPSB), Joint Stock Commercial Bank Asaka, SCM Ipoteka Bank and National Bank of Uzbekistan. The sovereign debt sale was also expected to provide an opportunity for Uzbek state energy firm Uzbekneftegaz.