MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Russia’s Finance Ministry has selected VTB Capital to act as an agent bank on the state bond placement and swapping in what is going to be the country’s first venture into the international capital market in 2017, according to the Ministry’s documents released on Tuesday.

Sberbank CIB and Gazprombank are also on the list of banks that may be engaged in the bond placement and swapping this year.

Earlier head of the Ministry’s department for sovereign debt and state financial assets Konstantin Vyshkovsky said Russia might place Eurobonds in the first half of this year, but not earlier than in May. However, a source in the government’s finance and economy bloc told TASS that the ministry might not have enough time to place Eurobonds in the spring due to a lengthy period of selecting agent banks. Another source close to the Finance Ministry confirmed the information.

The plan for 2017 is to float Eurobonds in the amount of $3 bln, and swap earlier issuances in the amount of $4 bln.

Russian Finance Ministry floated two tranches of ten-year sovereign Eurobonds in May and September 2016, first time from 2013.