Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Two listings from Slovenia and Belarus are due to close this week and the sellers are hopeful of getting the deals across the line, despite market challenges.

The US Treasury has lifted sanctions on two Turkish officials following the release of pastor Andrew Brunson — a US citizen Turkey had detained for two years on suspicion of espionage and links to terrorism.

Yapı Kredi is the latest top tier Turkish bank to refinance hard-currency debt, with a $1.1bn equivalent loan. It is the largest Turkish bank refinancing of the season, indicating that there is resilience in the market, and Garanti Bank is set to follow.

Kernel, the Ukrainian powerhouse producer of sunflower oil and agricultural products, has boosted and extended its $200m pre-export revolving credit facility.

Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), the largest bank in Slovenia, has fixed the price range for its €734m IPO in London and Ljubljana, after a positive response from investors during pre-marketing.

Ukraine raised $2bn with a dual tranche offering on Thursday, returning to capital markets in benchmark size for the first time in more than a year, fresh from its agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Türk Ekonomi Bankası (TEB) and İşbank followed Akbank with successful loan refinancings, as Turkish banks pressed on with a robust but pricey refi season, amid the country’s economic and political difficulties.

Banks which lend to Russian companies are on tenterhooks to find out if their comatose market will shrink further if the US brings more sanctions against the country.

Ukraine has opened books for a pair of dollar benchmarks, returning to capital markets in benchmark size for the first time in over a year, fresh from its agreement with the IMF.

Eurotorg, the largest supermarket chain in Belarus, has fixed a price range for its landmark IPO on the London Stock Exchange, which could value the company at almost $1bn.

Moscow Exchange on Wednesday launched aluminium, nickel, copper and zinc futures as part of a partnership with London Metal Exchange.

Summit Partners has launched the first selldown of shares in Avast, the Czech cyber security company, since its £602m IPO on the London Stock Exchange in May.