Leading Russian importer creating syndicate to place its bonds

VTB Bank has announced it is setting up a bank pool to place bonds of JSC ZAO Russian Sea known as the country's leading importer and processor operating in tandem with Russian Fish Company. ZENIT Bank has been chosen co-organizer of the bond issue.

The underwriters of the bond issue will be Promsvyazbank and Svyazbank, co-underwriters will be Eurofinance Mosnarbank, NOMOS-BANK, Petrokommerts Bank, Severnaya Kazna Bank, Slavinvestbank, SOYUZ Bank and Uniastrumbank.

The bond issue was placed in the trade system of JSC ZAO FB MMVB on 21 June 2007.

The organizer of the bond issue forecasts profitability of the year-long offer at 9.84%-10.38% per year equal to the coupon rate of 9.50-10.00% per year.

The face value of the bonded stock of JSC ZAO Russian Sea amounts to RUR2 billion (number of the state registration 4-01-12184-N dated 22 March 2007). The term of the bond circulation is set at 1820 days (5 years).

In the last few years the Russian Sea Company has been boosting processing while thoroughly modernizing its facilities and even contracting an Icelandic process engineer to produce ISLANDKA herring preserves. Also, the company has just announced another big program to develop big-scale rainbow trout farming and processing in the Russian province of Karelia bordering on Finland. The company has diversified into fish farming at a favourable moment as the Russian government has put spotlight on the industry pledging to compensate two thirds of the SBR rate on the funds borrowed to develop aquaculture.