Exclusive: Slovak DMO Head: Could Issue New Dual-Tranche Bond in Q4, 12- and 20-Year Maturity

11 April 2025

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Slovakia could issue a new dual-tranche bond in a benchmark transaction this autumn with a maturity of 12 and 20 years, according to Daniel Bytcanek, director of the Slovak Debt and Liquidity Management Agency.

In an interview with Econostream on March 31 (transcript here), Bytcanek said that after delivering a strong spring benchmark transaction, the ‘standard would be to return to the market again maybe in October or November with another benchmark transaction.’

The agency would potentially be looking to raise €3 billion via syndication and another €2 billion in following auctions, with the final size totalling €5 billion, according to Bytcanek.

‘We might go for a single bond transaction in the 12-year tenor but there is another option: going for a dual-tranche bond, in which we are very experienced’, he said. ‘It will probably be a combination of a 12-year bond and a 20-year bond, which would in total raise €3 billion.’

In this transaction €2 billion could be raised via the 12-year bond and €1 billion via the 20-year bond, he said.

‘We will decide in late September’, he said. ‘We will strictly observe the market and will follow recommendations of our primary dealers.’

The issued bond will be a new line, he said.

Asked about a potential defence bond issuance, Bytcanek said the probability of such outcome was ‘close to zero.’

‘We don’t have too much space for special bond issuances to cover defence needs because our defence budget is already above 2% of our GDP’, he said.

Slovakia still had space to deliver a €500 million transaction out of the euro market, according to Bytcanek.

‘We probably won’t make a decision until the end of the summer’, he said. ‘We might go for a private placement, and we also see market opportunities in the Czech Republic.’

He was also open to returning to the Swiss franc market but added that the likelihood of doing so in the next few months was ‘relatively low.’

‘The sterling market is also interesting, because we want to get to UK investors’, he added.

Regarding Slovakia’s plans on the green bond market, Bytcanek said the agency was ‘quite conservative’ in this aspect as these bonds were considered to have a political purpose.

‘We don’t have enough green projects, and the state budget already has space for the current ones’, he said.