Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Kernel Holding has hired two international banks to work on a bond offering, the first corporate new issue from Ukraine since 2013.

The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is to introduce a weekly expiry of options on the Russian Trading System (RTS) stock index.

The Republic of Turkey has surprised market participants by opening books on a 10 year dollar benchmark — but the 40bp-45bp new issue premium at the starting point hints at the elevated price investors will be demanding for Turkish risk.

Slovenia reopened the bond market for central and eastern European issuers in style on Tuesday with a well received dual tranche euro deal.

Agrokor, a Croatian retail, food and agriculture company, has abandoned its syndication of a three year term loan complaining of unfavourable terms.

DCM bankers will be hoping that central and eastern European issuers gathered in Vienna this week will have taken Slovenia’s Eurobond success as a sign that for CEE borrowers, the funding market is well and truly open once more.

The thaw in Western equity investors' and banks' sentiment towards Russia continued this week as Detsky Mir, the toy retailer, announced plans for the first Russian IPO of 2017, to be led by an array of bulge bracket investment banks.

Lithuania plans to raise €1.75bn in the international markets this year, the last year to go "long in size", according to its deputy head of the state treasury, Gediminas Norkunas.

Slovenia is on track to become the first central and eastern European sovereign to tap the bond markets this year after announcing price for a dual tranche euro deal on Tuesday morning.

The Republic of Poland is looking to become the first repeat sovereign issuer of Panda bonds as it seeks to raise Rmb3bn ($435m) this year.

The economic growth of the last five years is great for Romania, but is just the beginning, said Dacian Cioloş, Prime Minister of Romania, at an event in Bucharest organised by the Ministry of Public Finance and GlobalCapital. The country has to translate growth into development, to redress the inequalities between richer and poorer classes and regions. That means building a more productive, high value added economy, with investment in research and innovation; fighting corruption; improving governance at state companies; making the public administration more efficient; and stronger education and training. Above all, Romania must focus on generating prosperity for the younger generation.

Romania is in its best shape, economically, for a decade. With the budget deficit under control and employment growing, the prospects look bright, argued Anca Dragu, Minister of Public Finance, at an event in Bucharest organised by the ministry and GlobalCapital. The government is striving to make the public finances more transparent, with granular details of spending and revenue published online, and is trying to simplify taxation and cut red tape. Risks include Brexit, domestic demand outstripping supply and bottlenecks slowing down the process of reform and investment.