State-owned NBU thus became the second Uzbek bank to tap the Eurobond market after Uzpromstroybank, another state-owned lender, sold a USD 300 million bond in November 2019. Kinstellar’s Tashkent team also advised on Uzpromstroybank’s debut bond offering.
The Kinstellar team was led by Joel Benjamin (Managing Partner) and Muborak Kambarova (Counsel) and included Salimjon Yusupov (Junior Associate).
International law firm Linklaters acted as English and US counsel to the joint lead managers on the transaction.
Speaking about the transaction, Joel Benjamin, Managing Partner Kinstellar's Central Asia practice, comments: "We are delighted to have worked on another ground-breaking capital markets transaction in Uzbekistan, after having successfully advised on the USD 1 billion Eurobond issue in 2019, the country’s first-ever foray into international debt markets, and the debut bond offering by Uzpromstroybank. Despite the difficulties on global markets, this transaction shows the strength and promise of the Uzbek economy."