Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said on Friday an overwhelmingly majority of investors in its $500 million Eurobond had agreed to its restructuring plan and talks with other foreign lenders were going well, according to Reuters.
The company, whose finances have been wrecked in recent years as it bought increasingly expensive Russian gas but is forced to sell it at home at subsidised prices, wants to swap all its foreign debt for a single $1.65 billion 5-year issue.
Holders of the bond, which has a coupon of 8.125 percent against a proposed coupon of 9.5 percent on the new debt, voted on Thursday on Naftogaz`s proposal.
"The votes "for" together counted for over 92 percent of the existing paper that was traded," Naftogaz said in a statement.
"Naftogaz notes also progress in talks with investors in bilateral credit. The company is happy with the constructive character of the talks," it said.
Its other lenders are Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), with a loan of about $550 million, Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) with about $395 million and Depha with about $220 million.
On Thursday, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association ruled that Naftogaz`s failure to repay the Eurobond by a Sept. 30 maturity was a "credit event".
Analysts said that ruling would enable those who insured themselves against default using credit default swaps to demand a pay out.
