Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Rusal, the aluminium company, is set to sign Russia's first internationally syndicated sustainability-linked loan, for $750m. Some bankers say Russian borrowers are increasingly interested in financings linked to environmental, social and governance factors, as they hope to attract lenders put off by sanctions that have partly isolated Russia from capital markets since 2014.

Hypo Noe and Prima banka Slovensko competed for investors’ attention with similar sized covered bonds in the same seven year tenor on Tuesday. The Austrian transaction was priced with barely any concession and the higher rated Slovakian transaction was the first debut deal to price with a negative yield and the first from Central and Eastern Europe with a negative yield.

Rating: Baa3/BBB-/BBB

Russia’s State Transport Leasing Co (STLC or GTLK), will start a roadshow on Monday to market a six or seven year dollar benchmark in the first time a fully state-owned company has tried to tap the bond markets since the most recent round of US sanctions against the Russian sovereign in early August. Investors have mixed views as to the response it will receive.

The Republic of Kazakhstan and the State of Montenegro have mandated for the first euro bonds from the CEEMEA region since the market re-opened in September.

Russia’s State Transport Leasing Company (STLC), is planning to add to the spree of new bonds from Russia, hitting the road to market a six or seven year dollar benchmark. The deal will be the first time a fully state-owned company has tried to tap the bond markets since the most recent round of US sanctions against the Russian sovereign in early August.

Ukraine’s wildcard new president Volodymyr Zelensky has been making all the market-friendly noises investors could wish to hear, turning the country into a darling of emerging market portfolio managers. But there’s a wasp at the picnic: one oligarch's quest to regain his former bank is threatening the country’s economic future.

Russian petrochemicals firm Sibur was able to print $500m of five year paper in its return to the bond market this week, brushing off news of a drone attack on Saudi oil infrastructure and a subsequent 10% jump in the oil price.

Fears are growing that Ukraine’s Privatbank, which was nationalised in 2016 at the behest of the IMF, may be reprivatised thanks to pressure from its former owner, oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Such a move could jeopardise Ukraine’s chances of a new helping of IMF cash and the country’s bonds have sold off in response.

The blow to oil production in the Middle East seems to have boosted demand for Russian petrochemical giant Sibur's five year dollar benchmark on Monday — the issuer’s first bond in two years.

After several years of rumours and speculation, Russia’s long nurtured plans to issue renminbi government bonds will come to fruition in this year or in early 2020. The country will not borrow in dollars, but may borrow in euros and yuan, writes Lewis McLellan.

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