Companies@UA: База компаний Украины

Kyiv, July 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – A cabinet instruction to the Finance Ministry and National JSC Naftogaz Ukrainy to take measures on restructuring the state holding's debt on foreign loans and cut credit servicing costs via refinancing has affected Naftogaz Ukrainy's $500 million issue of eurobonds, which will mature in September 2009.

An analyst from Kyiv-based Sokrat Investment Company, Mykhailo Salnykov, said that over the past several days Naftogaz's eurobonds fell by 10 notches, to 82/87 notches, which led to a rise in profitability from 60% to 137/96% per annum.

In addition, investors fear that Naftogaz will be unable to make its next scheduled eurobond payment in September.

"It's likely that the eurobonds will be restructured. However, it's likely that the restructuring would foresee the payment of a part of the debt in September," Salnikov said.

He said that if the restructuring foresees the payment of a part of the debt, one can expect that part of the sum, for which the Naftogaz Ukrainy's statutory capital was increased, would go to pay off the company's foreign debts.

In turn, the head of the analytical department of Kyiv-based TASK investment group said that the hryvnia devaluation complicates the payment on the payback offer on the state holding's eurobonds in September.