THE DROP IN LENDING BY THE BANKS, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BSE GDF SUEZ may list bonds of 300 million lei on the BSE

• Lucian Anghel, BVB: "By cutting the fees, the Romanian bond market will become competitive, even compared to Luxemburg"

• Adrian Lupşan, BVB: "This may not be the only market surprise, before the end of the year"

The bond market on the Bucharest Stock Exchange may be seeing some new "deliveries", if the shareholders of GDF SUEZ Energy Romania agree for the company to issue bonds worth a maximum of 300 million lei (64 million Euros) and to get them listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

The proposal is included in a notice to attend the General Shareholder Meeting, quoted by Mediafax.

This news is as good as it gets for the BSE, which has the chance of becoming a financing alternative, considering the tightening of the banks' lending terms. It remains to be seen whether the Bucharest Stock Exchange, as in the corporate bonds category it only has two issues listed, of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (130 million lei) and of the European Investment Bank (300 million lei).

But the representatives of the BSE are optimistic. They said that the intention of GDF represents a positive message for the BSE and opens new doors for new companies interested in using the mechanisms of the local stock market.

They also talked about the fact that the BSE and the CNVM have intensified their efforts lately to attract new issuers to the stock market, through their decisions to stop charging for the new bonds admitted to trading.

"The BSE and the CNVM will try to build a financing alternative for Romanian companies, which means investments, jobs. Romania needs alternative sources of financing", said Lucian Anghel, the president of the BSE.

He considers that by cutting the fees to the BSE and the CNVM, "the Romanian bond market becomes competitive, even compared to Luxemburg".

Adrian Lupşan, the vice-president of the BSE, hopes that this issue will not be the first and the last pleasant surprise of this year: "By the end of the year, we may see another issue of corporate bonds".

He said that he wants to reopen this market on the BSE, considering that the global markets are far more dynamic, and liquidity is far greater.

"A great disadvantage is the fact that the major players dedicated to this market look at the rating, and this isn't exactly helpful for us. Romania is still near investment grade".

The bonds which the GFD wants to issue are dematerialized, unsecured and convertible, with a face value of 10,000 de lei. The bonds will have a maturity of up to 7-years and a coupon equal to that of bonds issued by the Romanian state with a similar maturity, plus a corporate risk margin, the notice to attend mentions.