URSA Bank declared it was about to buy out its Eurobonds. The bonds in question are a ?400m issue to be retired in May 2010 (ISIN: XS0301291729) and a ?300m one to be retired in November 2011 (ISIN: XS0274663383), the bank reports.

The first issue bonds with face value of ?1,000 will be bought for no more than ?900 apiece, the bonds from the second issue will be bought for no more than ?780 apiece. The final scale of the buyout and the prices are to be determined in the course of a Dutch auction. The total buyout volume is not expected to exceed ?60m for each issue and ?100m for two issues put together.

The buyout offer is valid through 4 PM on March 23, 2009 (London time) unless an additional prolongation decision is taken. The final buyout volume and the prices for each issue will be announced at about 10 AM (London time) the next day. The buyout procedure itself is to be competed by March 26, 2009.

URSA Bank launched its Eurobonds buyout program at the end of 2008 and had bought over $274m worth of bonds by March 1, 2009.