OREANDA-NEWS Belarus has switched to a new mechanism for paying Eurobonds to investors from Russia, the Ministry of Finance of the republic reported.

The Agency informed about the beginning of the transfer of payments on Eurobonds "Belarus-2023" to the Russian NGO JSC "National Settlement Depository".

"Payments of the nominal value and accumulated interest income were made on December 28, 2023, taking into account the provisions of Resolution No. 643/20 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus and the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus dated September 26, 2022 "On conducting certain transactions with Government Securities" and on the basis of lists of holders submitted by NSD who passed verification procedures and submitted documents in accordance with the established procedure It's fine," the Belarusian Finance Ministry said.

These funds in Belarusian rubles were transferred to NSD from a separate bank account previously opened with Belarusbank to fulfill obligations under Eurobonds.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance reported that in accordance with the adopted decree of the government and the National Bank, there are three possible ways to complete obligations on Eurobonds (at the option of the owner): exchange for domestic government bonds; sale to the issuer at a discount; receipt of funds in Belarusian rubles. Options for exchanging and selling securities to the issuer are available to all holders of all Eurobond issues.

In April 2022, a joint resolution of the government and the National Bank of Belarus approved the procedure for fulfilling obligations in Belarusian rubles on sovereign Eurobonds of the republic. At the same time, the payment agent for Eurobonds - Citi - in July 2022 announced the termination of all operations with the country's Eurobonds.

At the end of February 2023, the Ministry of Finance repaid Eurobonds worth $800 million in national currency, and coupon income on them ($27.5 million) was also paid. In addition, in the same month coupons were paid in national currency for three more issues of the country's sovereign Eurobonds: Belarus-2030 ($18.6 million), Belarus-2026 ($14.7 million) and Belarus-2031 ($23.9 million). In total, there are currently 4 issues of Eurobonds of Belarus in circulation totaling $2.45 billion: plus, these are securities maturing in 2027.

At the end of June, the Ministry of Finance of Belarus announced that it had paid a coupon in national currency for the issue of Belarus-2027 in the amount of $22.9 million in equivalent, and at the end of August coupons for issues maturing in 2026, 2030 and 2031 were again paid in Belarusian rubles. The funds in Belarusian rubles were credited to a special account in the state Belarusbank for further settlements with holders.