KIEV, Ukraine-The biggest Ukrainian carrier Kyivstar entered the international finance market for the first time to borrow US$100 million by placing bonds against a three-year syndicated credit at a yield of 12.75 percent annual provided by the Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Bank.
The carrier initially planned to borrow from US$150 million to US$200 million, however, it decreased the amount as it entered the market in a turbulent time when President Leonid Kuchma sacked the government and the top banker.
Experts said Kyivstar could have borrowed more at a lower yield had it placed the bonds a couple of months earlier. Still they said it was impossible to get the same amount at such an “acceptable yield” in the Ukrainian market.
The placement forced Kyivstar to fully disclose its shareholder breakdown. It conceded that 20 percent of its stock is controlled by the Russian Alfa Group, while 14 percent belongs to UkrSibBank board chairman Alexander Yaroslavsky, and its own board chairman Yuri Tumanov is the brother of the wife of the Ukrainian president.
