Evraz will not pay coupons on two Eurobond issues due to the lack of a license

Mining company Evraz will not be able to pay dollar bonds in September and October due to the lack of a license from the UK regulator. Since the end of April, the company has been under the sanctions of this country.

“Currently, the company is prohibited from making payments in respect of the 2023 bonds and 2024 bonds without a license from the UK sanctions regulator, the Office of Financial Sanctions Enforcement of the UK Treasury Department (OFSI),” it said in a statement. message Evraz, published on the London Stock Exchange.

On July 15 of this year, the company sent a license request to OFSI in order to make a coupon payment of $18.9 million on an issue maturing in 2023 on September 20, and a payment of $18.4 million on an issue maturing in 2024 on October 2 . “To date, OFSI has not provided the necessary license,” Evraz explained.

According to the statement, the company has “sufficient liquidity to meet the payments on the 2023 and 2024 bonds.” As of June 30, 2022, Evraz’s consolidated cash and cash equivalents were $793 million.

Evraz emphasized that even when obtaining a license, there are many obstacles to paying interest on Eurobonds, including technical and regulatory ones. The company is exploring various options that would allow it to meet its obligations to all Eurobond holders.

Formerly Bloomberg wrotethat OFSI is not issuing the necessary licenses to Russian companies, and that about $28.9 billion of corporate bond debt was in a state of technical default due to non-payment. The reason is allegedly the workload of management. Prior to this, the agency reportedthat Evraz will offer holders of dollar bonds to change the terms of payments on them. According to Bloomberg, the company is “looking for alternative ways” of payments due to sanctions imposed against it.

Daria Erozbek