CEE Bonds

Two Latin American multilaterals this week defied investor jitters around looming US non-farm payroll numbers to tap the Swiss franc market.

Türk Eximbank issued a $500m five year bond on Monday, commanding a $1.09bn book and bringing hope to syndicate officials that more deals from the country may follow.

Standard & Poor’s cut Azerbaijan’s credit rating to sub-investment grade on Friday as declining oil prices and general government deficits continue to put downward pressure on the sovereign.

Turk Eximbank (Turkiye Ihracat Kredi Bankasi) has released initial price thoughts for the first Turkish bond of the year at 425bp area over mid-swaps.

Bondholders of a $211m private placement issued by the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) met last week to discuss the bank’s request for a waiver after it unknowingly breached the bond's covenants.

Metinvest has swerved a default of its Eurobond due January 31 after bondholders voted to approve a waiver which will enable the issuer to restructure its debt without triggering a cross-default clause.

Bondholders of a $211m private placement issued by the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) met last week to discuss the bank’s request for a waiver after it unknowingly breached the bond's covenants.

Markets opened with a more positive tone on Monday after comments from Saudi Arabia buoyed oil prices and the European Central Bank boosted confidence last week. But with many US bankers snowed in at home, EM issuers are holding back.

Igor Knyazev will be taking over the role of group treasury chief at Alfa Bank in Russia when Michael Lawrence retires in June.

Emerging market bankers are saying that greater scrutiny may now need to be paid to the ratings calendar when printing bonds after Standard & Poor’s downgrade of Poland on Friday prompted one of the worst sell-offs of an EM new issue in recent memory.

Poland’s sovereign bond spreads are in turmoil, after a shock downgrade by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) late last week. The move follows a sharp drop in its political risk score in the latest Euromoney Country Risk (ECR) survey.

Several CEE entities revealed funding plans at Euromoney’s Central and Eastern European Forum in Vienna this week. Here is a roundup of some of those plans.