ArmInfo.More promising for Armenia It is somehow to integrate the local corporate bond market into the international financial market. This opinion, answering a question from ArmInfo, was expressed by the President of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) Dmitry Pankin.
"If the country is small, then creating a large efficient market is connected with difficulties. Of course, there are more issuers in the corporate bond market, but there are limited opportunities. It is impossible to get more liquidity in a small market, there are not a large number of participants. I think if there are more issues of corporate Eurobonds then it will be more interesting for investors. Armenia needs to be integrated into the international market. For example, after harmonizing the financial markets of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, in a single finale The EAEU's new market will have more opportunities - it will be possible to place it more successfully on the Russian market, and this is a large market, "said D. Pankin.
He recalled that in June 2017, BSTDB entered the Armenian bond market with the hope of supporting it by placing a three-year dram tranche in the amount of 2 billion drams, with a yield on the coupon of 8.455%, the maturity date of which is June 27, 2020. At that time, it was the second largest tranche of drams after the issue of bonds of the state national mortgage company in 2016 (2.127 billion drams). This year, according to D. Pankin, BSTDB plans to release the next tranche, but the date and volume are being specified. A total of $ 10-20 million bond issues are planned, he said.
It should be noted that from November 20, 2019, Armenian Eurobonds of the third tranche with an issue volume of $ 500 million were listed on the AMX Armenian Stock Exchange. As of February 10, 2020, 84 bonds of 19 issuers were quoted on the AMX stock exchange, of which 64 were issued by 12 banks . Of the corporate bonds quoted on the Armenian Stock Exchange, the majority are denominated in dollars (42 issues), and only 3 are euro-denominated, and the rest are dram. As a comparison, we note that before the appearance of BSTDB bonds on the Armenian stock exchange, the number of issuers was 11, and there were 31 corporate bond issues, of which 19 were issued by 7 banks, and there were 15 dollar issues at that time.
Last Friday in Yerevan, MOEX Day was held - the presentation of the Moscow Exchange, during which exchange employees presented the opportunities for Armenian issuers to enter Russian and international markets through the Moscow securities market. Answering a question from ArmInfo correspondent, Director of MOEX Equity Market Department Boris Blokhin noted that Armenian issuers have no obstacles to placing their securities. Moreover, the issue of debt securities can be both in foreign currency and in Russian rubles. The exchange is ready to provide issuers with all their infrastructure and all their financial instruments. Moreover, the listing of Armenian securities on the Moscow Exchange can be carried out in a facilitated manner. This means that the company will have to assume certain obligations to disclose information and fulfill other formal requirements. As for the placement of debt instruments, depending on the amount of capital raised, the instrument can be included in separate quotation lists both during secondary circulation and in the case of initial placement. There are no strict requirements for the volume of emissions on the Moscow Exchange.
Answering a question about regulatory risks, the expert noted that when talking with colleagues from Kazakhstan, Belarus and other countries, strangely enough, all the pitfalls are not on the Russian side. , the specialist noted.
