The creditors of Ukrtelecom have withdrawn their request for an early repayment of the company’s debt, Millenium Capital reports.
Earlier this year, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank reportedly demanded the early repayment of the US$222m balance of a…
The creditors of Ukrtelecom have withdrawn their request for an early repayment of the company’s debt, Millenium Capital reports.
Earlier this year, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank reportedly demanded the early repayment of the US$222m balance of a US$500m loan raised in 2005 because of the change of ownership.
The initial debt repayment was due in 2012, but the banks had asked for the repayment of US$56m on 25 February and the rest by 25 May.
A few days ago, the Financial Times reported that Austrian-backed Epic Services Ukraine agreed to buy 92.79% of Ukrtelecom at US$10m more than the US$1.3bn starting price of the privatisation tender.
In December, Epic Services Ukraine was the sole bidder for the stake, offering Hr10 (E0.9) above the minimum price of Hr10.5bn (E561m). As there was only one bid, the authorities were legally obliged to hire an independent adviser to value the stake.
According to the FT, domestic investment banks argued the government could have generated up to US$1.8bn through a competitive sale.
Epic managing partner Peter Goldscheider reportedly denied market suspicions that his company was acting as a front for domestic oligarchs.
In an interview with TelecomFinance last January, Goldscheider also denied speculation that Epic was fronting Russian companies or other international operators.
