Russian market picks up

After being painfully quiet all year, Russia’s corporate borrowers are finally waking up from their slumber. Oil group Gazprom-Neft launched a $1bn five year PXF on Tuesday. And steel company Mechel last week invited banks on to a $2.1bn PXF, the first Russian mining deal for 18 months. Given how under-lent banks are, especially to Russia, most expect plenty of demand for the deals. Nonetheless, with dollar funding increasingly expensive, they will be stern tests of how much eurozone sovereign debt woes are affecting the market. Read more on Friday.