Minister Kamenicky: Bonds for Public Can Be Purchased Only at Five Banks

Bratislava, February 28 (TASR) - The government will sell bonds to the public only through the branches of five banks (CSOB, Slovenska sporitelna, Tatra banka, UniCredit Bank and Vseobecna uverova banka) as of March 3, with no sales via intermediaries or door-to-door sales, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) and head of the Agency for Debt and Liquidity Management (ARDAL) Daniel Bytcanek announced at a press conference on Friday. "I want to warn everyone to avoid being tricked. No one should give cash to anyone. No one is authorised to sell bonds to the public apart from the five banks and their branches, which number in the hundreds. Only at a bank branch can a person purchase bonds for the public. On March 3, I will be the first client to purchase bonds as part of a promotional event – we'll announce where this will take place over the weekend," said Kamenicky. According to the head of ARDAL, the bond sale will last until the end of March. "If there is high demand, we'll end the sale earlier. It could happen after two or three weeks, we'll see based on demand. The bonds will be sold 'until stocks run out,'" added Bytcanek. He also mentioned that bonds will be issued on April 2 and that ARDAL will provide ongoing updates about the bond sale. The bonds include two types, Investor and Patriot, with different maturity periods. The interest rates will be 3 percent for the two-year bond and 3.3 percent for the four-year bond, with the yield being net of taxes, fees and contributions. The expected issue volume has been set at twice €200 million, with the possibility of an additional €100 million. The minimum bond value will be €1,000, and the first purchase opportunity will be limited to March. Subsequently, it will be possible to trade the bonds on the stock exchange. lin/df