OREANDA-NEWS. December 18, 2012. Belarus is ready to start floating eurobonds with a maximum interest rate of 7.5% per annum, Chairwoman of the National Bank of Belarus Nadezhda Yermakova said Thursday with reference to the eurobond road show, which is currently underway in Hong Kong and Singapore.

“The interest rate should be as low as 7.5%. We can’t afford expensive borrowings,” Yermakova told Reuters.

We have a heavy burden of external liabilities to be settled in 2013. If the road show is successful, we will start issuing eurobonds, Yermakova said.

Belarus’ Finance Ministry is holding a Eurobond road show in Hong Kong and Singapore on November 27–30, organized by Russia’s Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital Plc, a U.K.-registered unit of Russia’s VTB Capital.

Earlier, a financial source in Belarus said that the government was planning to run a road show for Eurobonds worth USD 500-600 million in Hong Kong and Singapore.

In 2010 Belarus placed USD 600 million worth of eurobonds at a coupon rate of 8.75%. The bonds will mature in 2015.

In 2011 Belarus placed seven-year Eurobonds worth USD 1.2 billion at 8.95%.

The lead arrangers of the issue are BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Russian Sberbank.

In late 2010 Belarus placed two-year bonds worth 7 billion Russian rubles at a coupon rate 8.7% per annum.