Belarusbank officially announced its transaction with the state totaling €275 mln. The subject of the bilateral agreement is the government bonds of Belarus. However, there is one thing that raises a question - the bank owners. Belarusbank entirely belongs to the country's government. Considering these consequences that seem to completely contradict the main point of bond issue as such, this deal looks like a credit. So, one bank got the bonds as collateral for €275 mln.
The bank representatives are sure that such investments are very profitable. They are characterized by a 6.4% annual interest, quarterly payments, and minimum risk of nonpayment. These obligations have been issued for four years. That was not the first case of the national co-financing. The Belorussian authorities had already put on the market the bond certificates, the lion's share of which was bought by Belarusbank. At the end of the last year the bank purchased the Ministry of Finance securities in the amount of $100 mln, and two month ago it got the ones of Grodno Regional Executive Committee to the tune of $80 mln.
The government bonds are an efficient way to attract investments, which is extensively utilized in Belarus. In 2012, a part of Belarus bonds was in circulation on the Moscow Stock Exchange, although the trading volumes were small.
