ALROSA might issue Eurobonds in 2004

ALROSA, Russia's largest diamond producer, is considering the possibility of issuing Eurobonds totaling up to $300m in 2004, Fyodor Andreyev, the Vice President of the company, declared. He pointed out that Eurobonds would have from 7 to 10 years maturity. He also specified that the company was not planning new loans. All credits, including the recent $500m Eurobond issue maturing in 5 years will be used to restructure the credit portfolio, which currently amounts to $1.1bn, the Vice President said. The raised funds will be also spent on paying off short-term credits given by Russian banks.

As reported earlier, ALROSA issued Eurobonds totaling $500m on April 29, 2003 instead of the planned $300m.