Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Siberian Coal Energy Co (Suek) and Russian Copper Co are expected to sign pre-export finance facilities after launching their deals before the end of 2017.

Emerging market bond fund managers say they are markedly more optimistic than 12 months ago when the "whole world was negative" after the start of Donald Trump’s US presidential term. And with plenty of sovereign trades rumoured for January, there is an abundance of investment opportunities.

Deutsche Bank’s head of origination for corporate and financials in CEEMEA has moved to one of the bank’s clients as chief financial officer.

Russian mining and metals producer Mechel has successfully obtained sufficient support from its lenders to go ahead with further restructuring a $1bn syndicated loan facility.

For CEEMEA bonds, 2017 was a record breaking year and one which pushed the boundaries of product, tenor, and issuer. The $200bn of bonds raised in CEEMEA, and the $140bn raised in Latin America are the highest annual volumes on record. Investors’ seemingly insatiable appetite for EM debt fuelled massive inflows into the asset class and kept the many idiosyncratic risk events – from Qatar’s regional isolation to deteriorating relations between Turkey and the US– contained. Picking out the deals of the year for 2017 was not easy for GlobalCapital’s editorial team, but after much deliberation the below were chosen.

Is Financal Kiralama (Is Leasing), Isbank’s leasing arm, is expected to sign a $75m loan which it has mandated Bank ABC to arrange.

Chelyabinsk Pipe-Rolling Plant, the Russian steep pipe maker, has signed a €150m unsecured syndicated loan, the eighth from Russia this year.

Top emerging market bond investors are warning that making strong returns will be much more difficult in 2018, as elections and interest rate risk introduce more volatility into the markets.

Estonia plans to become the first sovereign to dip its toes into the still murky waters of cryptocurrencies.

Ak Finansal Kiralama (Aklease), Akbank’s leasing subsidiary, has signed a $110m syndicated loan to fund renewable energy projects.

Norilsk Nickel, the Russian nickel and palladium producer, has signed a $2.5bn unsecured syndicated loan, the largest facility from Russia this year.

Promsvyazbank, Russia’s ninth largest bank by assets, has become the third major Russian private bank this year to be bailed out by the Bank of Russia.