Slovakia, which has been planning a benchmark debut dollar Eurobond since July this year, decided to delay launching the bond until market conditions improved. The country was expected to launch a bond for up to $300 million with a five-year maturity via Nomura. But now, the country will not hit the road with its bond issue until market conditions improve, a syndicate manager at Nomura said.
"They have the flexibility to postpone the bond until 1998," he said. "It will be the sovereign dollar benchmark, so obviously they will be very keen to execute something at the right levels."
Slovakia also plans to issue government bonds denominated in Slovak crowns on foreign markets. The country is rated Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service and BBB- by Standard and Poor's.
Slovak VSŽ said to choose bond manager soon VSŽ a.s., Slovakia's largest steel producer, said on October 31 that it will soon choose a lead manager for a planned foreign currency bond issue. "There was big interest in the issue and we are now negotiating with two foreign financial institutions from which we will chose the lead manager," VSŽ spokesman Jozef Marko said, refusing to disclose either the names of the financial houses under consideration, or any information about the issue itself.
Compiled by Daniel Borský from Reuters.
