International Financing Review. International debut in tenge.

The Eurasian Development Bank (A3/BBB/BBB) has launched an inaugural international T15bn (US$100m) five-year bond.

The sale was completed on April 28 under the existing US$3.5bn EMTN programme through BCC Invest, Halyk Finance and KazKommerts Invest while Citigroup acted as paying agent. It pays 15% in the first year with the coupon to be linked to the Kazakh inflation rate plus 1% from year two within an 8%–16% range before maturing on April 28 2014.

Proceeds from the offering will help finance infrastructure projects in Central Asia's biggest economy. The bank, formed in 2006 by the governments of Kazakhstan and Russia, hopes to return to the international market as it believes the EDB bonds could be in vogue with Kazakh pension funds looking to diversify.

This debut EDB international tenge issue has been placed with investors in Kazakhstan, including pension funds and insurance companies, and is dual-listed in Almaty and London.

Apart from the EDB, there are four other international Kazakh tenge bonds, according to Cbonds: one each from Asian Development Bank (T6bn 2012s), Bank CentreCredit (T25bn 2011s), JP Morgan (T13.2bn 2016s) and Merrill Lynch (T3.6bn 2012s).