Russia will hold a roadshow for its first eurobond offering in over a decade in New York on April 21-22, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said yesterday, cited by Russian new agencies.

Russia plans to borrow from the international debt markets for the first time since the trauma of its 1998 default, with a need to replenish state coffers depleted by the financial crisis.

The Finance Ministry has previously announced plans to issue eurobonds worth a total of $17.8 billion in 2010, followed by $20.7 billion in 2011 and $20 billion in 2012.

Kudrin gave no further details on Russia's eurobond plans, set to be organized by Russia's VTB Capital, Citibank, Credit Suisse and Barclays Capital.

"We are weathering 2010 well, but definitely the government must lower economic risks and the budget deficit," Kudrin was quoted as saying on the sidelines of a banking conference.

The sovereign offering is crucial to plug holes in the 2010 budget, which is expected to have a deficit worse than the figure for crisis-hit 2009, reaching 6.8 per cent of the gross national product.

Russia's under-reformed economy has been hit hard by the global slowdown and the country is facing dwindling revenues over the next years amid a lower oil price and dwindling tax receipts.