21^st February 2023, Skopje – Ministry of Finance stands ready and may immediately step in the international capital market by issuing Eurobond, as soon as the new Minister of Justice is elected by the Parliament. We expect for the next auction to be successful as well. This process is underpinned by a consortium of banks, by which Eurobonds have been successfully issued our country for 20 years now, with the investors, who took part a the auction held on 9^th February, being interested to participate again, as pointed out by Minister of Finance, Fatmir Besimi, his gest appearance for “24 Analiza” TV Show.

Repeated auction, as Minister said, does not entail any financial costs, since it is agreed between the state and the consortium of banks, supporting this process for 20 years now.

„As soon as new Minister of Justice is elected, we are ready to step in on the market the very next day, depending on the banks’ assessments of the market conditions. Next auction will also be successful. Investors are interested in participating thereat again. They are familiar with our products, without any default payments thereon. No additional costs will be incurred for the repeated procedure, while the interest is set by the market”, Minister Besimi said.

He stressed that the amount of the Eurobond, to be issued, will depend on the interest rate. „The limit set by the Government was EUR 800 million, and we decided to issue a Eurobond of EUR 600 million to repay the liabilities towards the foreign creditors, i.e. the Eurobond falling due in June, amounting to EUR 450 million and the interest of around EUR 30 million thereon, as well as other foreign loans falling due this year. The idea was for the Eurobond proceeds to be used for refinancing the liabilities towards the foreign creditors. If the interest is above 7% or higher, the option for issuing the Eurobond in the amount of EUR 500 million may be considered, while reviewing the market conditions in terms of the interest throughout the year. In the second half of the year, decreased inflation and higher growth are expected. However, there are many unknown factors, and no one can predict what will happen in Ukraine next”, Minister Besimi pointed out.

By clarifying the reasons, due to which the auction for the Eurobond issuance will be repeated, he said that it was a lesson learned, thereby announcing that legal amendments will be proposed, as per which, the opinion could be signed not only by the Minister of Justice but also by other member of the Government.