CEE Bonds

Russia has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine in the High Court in London, with regards to the default on $3bn of bonds at the end of last year.

European Union ministers decided on Monday to permanently lift most sanctions on Belarus. But international banks remain wary of leading the country back to the Eurobond market.

MHP, the Ukrainian poultry producer, is asking holders of its Eurobonds maturing in 2020 to accept an amendment to the terms of its bonds which would prevent a covenant breach.

Ukraine's ministry of finance has announced plans to raise $5bn in the international markets according to its recently published debt management plan.

Currency and tenor have been left open in the RFP for Russia’s first sovereign bond since 2013. Recommendations to print in dollars are expected to dominate and some have said that a renminbi tranche is a possibility. But the RFP has aroused suspicion that it could be a ruse to raise funding for sanctioned entities.

European credit and equity markets suffered a sustained battering this week with financial borrowers facing ever greater scrutiny in the wake of poor results and concerns about their ability to meet coupon payments.

Hopes of primary issuance from CEEMEA receded again on Thursday as regional borrowers were caught up in the global market turmoil.

The recent new issues from Turk Eximbank and Kuveyt Turk are both trading well, leading to hopes that further bonds from the country may follow.

Kuveyt Turk, an Islamic Turkish bank, survived a rough market on Monday to print a $350m Basel III compliant tier two sukuk. Even the leads were surprised by how well the deal went, although their own orders and the high yield on offer helped.

Markit is preparing to launch what it said will be the first tradable emerging markets interest rate swap index.

Kuveyt Turk has released initial price thoughts for the third Basel III compliant tier two bond to come out of Turkey.

Russia released a request for proposals late last week for its first Eurobond since 2013. Of the 23 banks that that received the RFP, “most” are expected to pitch for the bond, said bankers in London.