Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

“Vodafone Ukraine” has announced new buyback of $1.2 mln in Eurobonds

Vodafone Ukraine (VFU), Ukraine’s second-largest mobile operator, which has repurchased approximately $25.5 million worth of its own Eurobonds since late May of last year following several offers related to dividend payments, has announced another similar tender at 98% of par value for a total of $1.165 million.

As noted in a statement on the Irish Stock Exchange, the company previously made another monthly dividend payment on June 2 in the amount of UAH 51.60 million.

Applications to participate in the tender are being accepted through June 17, and settlements are scheduled for June 24.

Bonds maturing in February 2027 with a coupon rate of 9.625% per annum were issued for $300 million. Their redemption is related to the fact that on April 24, 2025, VFU announced the accrual of dividends to its shareholder in the amount of UAH 660.245 million ($15.9 million at the exchange rate specified in the announcement) for 2024. In accordance with National Bank restrictions, these dividends will be paid in separate monthly installments in hryvnia, each amounting to EUR1 million. The company emphasized that, under the terms of the bond issue, it must in such a case offer all bondholders the opportunity to submit an application to sell their bonds for an amount equal to the dividends paid outside Ukraine.

In the first two tenders, mobile operator “Vodafone Ukraine” repurchased bonds in an amount equivalent to EUR1 million. The initial repurchase was announced at 99% of par value, the second at 90% of par value. The company did not announce the results of the second buyback on the exchange, while the bid-to-cover ratio for the first buyback was 0.0040355668.

Following the third tender, where the buyback price was reduced to 85% of par value and the offer was capped at $4.67 million, “Vodafone Ukraine” received bids totaling $53.395 million and satisfied them in the amount of $5.208 million. The scaling factor was 0.1315451889487317.

The fourth tender was announced on August 13 but was subsequently extended seven times. As a result, the redemption price was increased from 85% to 98%, and the redemption amount to $10.84 million. The company received bids totaling $127.14 million for this amount. Some of the bonds were returned to their holders due to the inability to split the face value, while the rest were accepted with a scaling factor of 0.1150681.

In the fifth through tenth bond redemption tenders held from December to May, the price was again set at 98%: in the fifth tender, with bids of $1.165 million, the scaling factor was set at 0.01901; in the sixth, with bids of $1.475 million, at 0.04234; in the seventh, with bids of $1.185 million, at 0.3246; for the eighth, with bids of $1.18 million – 0.0333333; for the ninth, with bids of $1.16 million – 0.449; and for the tenth, with bids of $1.17 million – 1.0 (bids totaling $2.32 million were submitted).

Overall, based on the results of the ten tenders, the total nominal value of bonds remaining in circulation is $274.52 million.

As reported, mobile operator VFU increased its revenue by 14% in 2025 compared to the previous year—to 27.8 billion UAH—while its net profit rose by 18%—to 4.18 billion UAH.

In the first quarter of this year, VFU increased its net profit by 12% compared to the same period last year—to UAH 778 million, while its revenue grew by 11%—to UAH 7.3 billion.

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Metinvest B.V. paid coupon on its 2027 Eurobonds on time, despite war

Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands), the parent company of an international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group of companies, paid the next coupon on its 2027 Eurobonds and, despite the war in Ukraine, continues to fulfill its debt obligations, in particular to Eurobond holders.

“We can confirm that the coupon for March 1 was paid on time,” Andriy Burlakov, head of the Metinvest Group’s press service, told Interfax-Ukraine in response to a request.

The coupon payment date for Eurobonds-2027 is March 1.

“The coupon payment dates are March 1 and September 1 of each year,” according to the information on the 2027 bonds.

The coupon rate is 7.650% per annum.

Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions – as well as in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The main shareholders of the holding company are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of the Metinvest Group.

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Ukraine has proposed exchanging GDP warrants worth $2.6 billion for Eurobonds maturing in 2032 at ratio of 1.34

Ukraine is offering holders of GDP warrants issued for a nominal amount of $2 billion 591.219 million to exchange them at a ratio of 1.34 for new amortized Eurobonds of Ukraine B maturing in 2030-2032 and to pay cash compensation of up to 7% for such an exchange, according to a proposal on the Irish Stock Exchange and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1554 of December 1.

It notes that Ukraine and the special committee of GDP warrant holders made significant progress on the terms of such an exchange in the next round of negotiations from November 25 to 30, but the search for full agreement will continue in the coming days in order to reflect the results of such consultations in the relevant amendments to the Memorandum of Exchange by December 5.

The basic terms provide that 45% of the principal amount of the new Eurobonds B will be redeemed on February 1, 2030, and 2031, while the remaining 10% will be redeemed on February 1, 2032.

The interest rate on these bonds will be 4% per annum from the date of placement until February 1, 2027, then 5.5% until August 1, 2029, and 7.25% per annum for the remaining period until maturity.

Holders of GDP warrants who agree to the exchange during the early acceptance period, up to and including December 12, will receive an additional cash payment of 7% ($70 for every $1,000 of the principal amount of GDP warrants), while those who do so between December 13 and 17 inclusive will receive 4.5%.

Finally, those who do not participate in the exchange, if it is approved, will receive other Eurobonds with a total ratio of 1.36 – Eurobonds B, which were issued during the restructuring of Eurobonds in 2024: at 0.68 – Eurobonds maturing in 2030 and 2034, with an interest rate of zero until February 1, 2027, 3% until August 1, 2033, and 7.75% per annum thereafter.

It is noted that the quorum for making a decision is 75% of the total nominal amount, and the decision is expected on December 22. At the same time, even with the consent of 50% of GDP warrant holders, Ukraine can initiate their delisting from the exchange.

According to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, GDP warrants rose in price on Monday by 0.66% to 92.15% of their nominal value. The last time they were more expensive was in October 2021, after which their value fell below 20% of their nominal value in certain periods.

As reported, from October 16 to November 5, representatives of Ukraine held a series of limited negotiations with a special committee, which includes institutional holders of GDP warrants, during which the parties twice exchanged proposals for their restructuring without result.

Among the warrant holders are hedge funds Aurelius Capital Management LP and VR Capital Group. They are advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and PJT Partners Inc, while the Ukrainian side is advised by White & Case LLP and Rothschild & Co.

Following the autumn round of negotiations, the Ministry of Finance emphasized that Ukraine intends to continue working with warrant holders and consider all available options for their restructuring that are consistent with the three previously stated objectives: restoring debt sustainability in accordance with the IMF program; the commitments made during the restructuring of Eurobonds in August 2024 to distribute the burden appropriately among all commercial claims within the restructuring; the moratorium on warrant payments from May 31, 2025, until the completion of their restructuring, approved by the government on August 27, 2024.

Ukraine’s revised proposal during those autumn negotiations was to compensate for the missed payment on warrants for the 2023 reporting year, which was due on June 2, 2025, and to exchange the warrants for a partial cash payment and a new series of sovereign bonds (“C Bonds”). Under Ukraine’s proposal, holders of GDP warrants who agreed to this restructuring option would receive $60 in cash and C Bonds with a par value of $1,260 for every $1,000 of notional value of the warrants. These bonds would be redeemed in three equal installments on January 30, 2030, 2031, and 2032. Interest on them would be paid semi-annually at rates of 2.50% for 2026-2027, 4% for 2028-2029, and 6.00% for 2030-2032.

https://interfax.com.ua/

 

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Vodafone Ukraine repurchases Eurobonds worth $1.11 mln

Ukraine’s second-largest mobile operator, Vodafone Ukraine (VFU), which on May 23 announced an offer to repurchase its Eurobonds worth $1.11 million, has received bids significantly exceeding the repurchase amount.

“The offered bonds will be accepted for purchase on a pro rata basis in accordance with a scaling factor of 0.0040355668,” the issuer said in a statement on the Irish Stock Exchange on Monday.

According to the statement, if the application of this ratio to the bond package of any holder results in an amount less than the minimum nominal value, such offered bonds will be rejected.

The settlement date for the tender offer will be approximately June 13, 2025.

The redemption of Eurobonds is related to the fact that on April 24, 2025, VFU announced the payment of dividends to its shareholder in the amount of UAH 660.245 million ($15.9 million at the exchange rate specified in the announcement) for 2024. According to the restrictions of the National Bank, they will be paid in separate monthly dividend payments. Each such monthly dividend is expected to amount to EUR1 million in hryvnia.

The company emphasized that, according to the terms of the bond issue, in this case, it must offer all bondholders to submit an application for their sale for an amount equal to the amount of dividends paid outside Ukraine.

According to the announced terms, the bonds will be redeemed at a rate of 99% of their face value.

VFU recalled that a total of $300 million in bonds maturing in February 2027 with a nominal rate of 9.625% per annum were issued, of which the company currently holds $0.5 million in bonds.

As reported, VFU increased its revenue by 13.1% to UAH 24.44 billion in 2024, while reducing its net profit by 30.1% to UAH 3.54 billion.

In January-March 2025, revenue grew by 14% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 6.59 billion, while net profit fell by 24% to UAH 697 million.

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Vodafone Ukraine to redeem Eurobonds worth $1.11 mln due to dividend payments

Ukraine’s second-largest mobile operator, Vodafone Ukraine (VFU), has announced a proposal to buy back its Eurobonds worth $1.11 million in connection with the company’s first monthly dividend payment to shareholder Telco Investments B.V. in the amount of UAH 46.092 million on May 14 this year.

As the company explained in a stock exchange announcement on Friday, according to changes made by the National Bank of Ukraine on December 21, 2024, it is now permitted to pay dividends abroad on a monthly basis in an amount not exceeding EUR 1 million per month.

Accordingly, on April 24, 2025, VFU announced the payment of dividends to its shareholder in the amount of UAH 660.245 million ($15.9 million at the exchange rate specified in the announcement) for 2024 and intends to pay them in separate monthly dividend payments. Each such monthly dividend is expected to amount to the equivalent of EUR1 million in hryvnia.

The company emphasized that, in accordance with the terms of the bond issue, in such a case it must offer all bondholders the opportunity to apply for the sale of their bonds for an amount equal to the amount of dividends paid outside Ukraine.

According to the announced terms, the bonds will be redeemed at 99% of their face value.

VFU recalled that a total of $300 million worth of bonds maturing in February 2027 with a nominal interest rate of 9.625% per annum were issued, of which the company currently holds $0.5 million worth of bonds.

Applications for participation in the buyback will be accepted until June 6 inclusive.

As reported, VFU increased its revenue by 13.1% to UAH 24.44 billion in 2024, while reducing its net profit by 30.1% to UAH 3.54 billion.

In January-March 2025, revenue grew by 14% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 6.59 billion, while net profit fell by 24% to UAH 697 million.

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Metinvest B.V. pays another coupon on Eurobonds 2027 despite war

Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies, has paid a regular coupon on its 2027 Eurobonds and continues to meet its debt obligations, including to Eurobond holders, despite the war in Ukraine.

“We can confirm that the coupon was paid on time,” Andriy Burlakov, Metinvest Group’s press secretary, told Interfax-Ukraine in response to a query.

Coupon payments on the 2027 Eurobonds are due on March 1.

“On March 1 and September 1 of each year, starting from March 1, 2021,” the information on the payment of coupons on the 2027 bond states.

“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. Its businesses are located in Ukraine, in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions, as well as in the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.

Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.

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