Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Turkey has had a sensational quarter, with borrowers from the country raising more than $10.2bn in the market — the highest total in history. But with its central bank short of reserves and its currency struggling to hold on to its gains, a cap in hand visit to the IMF may be around the corner, and Turkish issuers’ best funding days may be behind them.

Bankers remain confident that Turkey's 'resilient' banking system will weather increasing political and economic volatility, as the country enters a recession and approaches local elections.

The Turkish lira has suffered heavy losses against the dollar, falling to its weakest level since October 2018 and shaking market participants’ confidence in the ability of the country's borrowers to access the market.

Russian borrowers and their sovereign are streaming back into the bond markets, although with mixed results.

The issuance of two currency-linked notes on the private market should help stimulate local currency markets in Myanmar and Ukraine according to one syndicate banker.

Turkey’s capital markets rehabilitation has been one of the most remarkable emerging markets stories of the past six months, but investors’ appetite for the nation’s paper is finally starting to wear thin.

Vakifbank is taking orders for a five year dollar bond — its first benchmark deal in more than a year.

Bank of Georgia is in the market with its first ever additional tier one bond on Thursday, offering a generous yield but keeping the size down.

Russia is back in the capital markets, opening books for a new dollar deal with the unusual tenor of 16 years, as well as tapping its December 2025 euro benchmark.

Vakifbank will be the next borrower to join the growing list of Turkish credits returning to the bond market after the nation’s currency crisis in 2018.

A flurry of Russian equity capital markets transactions have hit the market in the past fortnight, with three block trades priced and one IPO launched. After almost no Russian issuance since April 2018, many investors are keen to gain exposure to the country and sellers are taking advantage of a clear window before political volatility returns.

Fear of US sanctions kept Russian borrowers out of the market for much of 2018. Now they’re coming back, and investors would be well advised to get involved.