Armenian Finance Minister: Eurobonds worth a total of $2 billion  remain in circulation

ArmInfo. Three issues of Armenian Eurobonds, totaling $2 billion, are currently in  circulation. This was announced by RA Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan on September 22 at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on financial, credit, and budgetary issues.

"The first Eurobond issue will mature in 2029, the second in 2031,  and the third, placed this year with a 10-year maturity, in 2035. For  a total of $2 billion," the RA chief financial officer said.

As a reminder, the inaugural issue of Armenian Eurobonds took place  on September 19, 2013, in the amount of $700 million, with a maturity  of 7 years, ending September 30, 2020. The yield at the placement was  6.25%. The government repaid the $500 million stabilization loan it  took from Russia ahead of schedule. The main underwriters were  Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, HSBC Bank plc, and J.P. Morgan  Securities plc.

Armenia issued the second tranche of sovereign bonds, worth $500  million, with a 10- year maturity and a yield of 7.5%, on March 19,  2015. Proceeds from the second issue of Eurobonds amounted to $488  million. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these bonds,  $199.9 million, was used to repurchase the first issue of Eurobonds  maturing in 2020.

Armenia issued the third tranche of foreign currency sovereign bonds  in the amount of $500 million, with a coupon yield of 3.95% and a  maturity of 10 years, on September 19, 2019. The placement of the  third tranche, which took place on September 26, 2019, raised $489.9  million, and simultaneously included a partial redemption of $402.4  million of the first issue foreign currency bonds, for which $427.9  million was paid (including the coupon amount). The main underwriters  of the Armenian Eurobonds of the third issue were J.P. Morgan  Securities plc. and City Bank.

In 2023, the Armenian government managed to redeem a portion of its  $500 million Eurobonds maturing in 2025 (issued in 2015) early, for  approximately $187 million.

The fifth tranche of Armenian Eurobonds was issued on March 5, 2025.  Armenia placed $750 million worth of Eurobonds on international stock  markets, with a yield of 7.1% and a maturity of 10 years (settlement  date: March 12, 2025). The coupon yield on the new Eurobonds was  6.75%. The Eurobonds were listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).  International rating agencies assigned the following ratings to  Armenian sovereign securities: BB- (stable) from S and P, BB-  (stable) from Fitch, and Ba3 (stable) from Moody's. This is the fifth  tranche of Armenian Eurobonds on the international capital market,  the issuance of which was envisaged by the RA Law "On the State  Budget for 2025" and included in the Borrowing Program for 2025. Net  proceeds from the Eurobond issue will be used to finance the state  budget deficit (609 billion drams - ed.). As the head of the Ministry  of Finance told ArmInfo, demand for Armenian Eurobonds three times  exceeded the placement volume. He informed that investors in Armenian  securities were mainly companies from the UK and the US, which  accounted for 45% and 34%, respectively. European investors accounted  for 14%, and investors from the Middle East and North Africa - 5%,  the minister said. According to him, holders of Armenian securities  were institutional investment companies, pension funds, hedge funds  and, to a lesser extent, banks. JPMorgan, Citibank and Credit Agricol  Bank acted as underwriters.