Naftogaz postponed Wednesday’s placement of $500 million in Eurobonds

Naftogaz postponed Wednesday’s placement of $500 million in Eurobonds. Although $700 million in bids were made for the 5-year bonds, they came in higher than the 10.9% target interest rate. Wednesday’s 7% drop in oil prices hurt energy assets across the board. Last week, in advance of the energy company’s Monday-Tuesday road show, Fitch Ratings gave the bonds a B- rating. On Tuesday, Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev told a conference in Kyiv that he wants to replace the state energy company’s $2 billion debt portfolio with lower interest rate Eurobonds. The aborted sale is expected to push Ukrzaliznytsya to postpone its own Eurobond placement.