Serbian bonds on the Luxemburg stock exchange for the first time
The Serbian Ministry of Finance announced that as of today, for the first time in history, bonds of the Republic of Serbia are quoted on the Luxemburg Stock Exchange. Serbian Minister of Finance Mladjan Dinkic confirmed that all legal, procedural and other technical issues necessary for completing the restructuring of the debt towards the London Club of creditors of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which belong to Serbia have been successfully regulated.
The restructuring of the debt was done through the issue of new Eurobonds registered at the Luxemburg Stock Exchange with the overall nominal value of approximately $1.02 billion in exchange for old claims. In this way, representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Serbia have managed to reduce the total debt towards the London Club of creditors by about 62 percent.
The initial value of Serbian Eurobonds at the Luxemburg Stock Exchange is 86 cents to the dollar. Considering that there is great interest among investors, their price is expected to rise gradually in the forthcoming period.
The accrued interest rate for the new Eurobonds, issued in the exchange process, is 3.75 percent annually, in the period from the first to the fifth year, and according to an annual interest rate of 6.75 percent from the sixth to the 20th year. Prior to issuing the Eurobonds, all persons linked with the purchase of the old debt using state funds of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were excluded, it was stated in the announcement.
This is the first international Serbian bond issue, which will offer companies and banks from this country better and more favourable access to the international capital market, which includes larger loans, longer repayment deadlines and lower interest rates in the process of full reintegration into the international financial market.