Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Europe must take the wake-up call of the UK referendum seriously, argued Germany’s Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, at a high level meeting in Bucharest organised by the Romanian Ministry of Public Finance and GlobalCapital.

Romania is the economic growth star of Europe. Tax relief and VAT cuts have stimulated consumption and investment is strong. Wages are rising fast, but Romania remains competitive. With labour costs a fifth of the EU average, it should be — but that statistic shows how big a hill the country has to climb.

Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası (Vakibank) is asking investors exchange its old style tier two bonds for new Basel III compliant notes, making it the second Turkish bank in as many weeks to turn to liability management to boost its capital.

Detsky Mir, the Russian children’s goods retailer, has announced its intention to float on the Moscow Exchange, more than two years after shelving plans to go public when Western sanctions were imposed on some Russian entities after the country's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and Russia suffered a recession.

A giddiness is entering the Russian loan market over the speed at which deals are lining up, with bankers looking for a bold reopening even as the country’s political relations with the US come under the growing glare of public scrutiny. Dan Alderson reports.

Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE), the Slovenian state-owned power generation company, has agreed a €220m loan to refinance debt and extend its maturity profile.

Loan bankers’ enthusiasm to undertake more Russian business this year looks set to translate into deals soon, with Russian Railways in talks about a new money club loan.

After spending 2016 away from the high yield market, UK premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover returned on Tuesday to add euros to its all sterling and dollar debt.

Reducing Hungary’s FX liabilities continues to be one of its debt management office’s (AKK) driving factors, but CEO György Barcza also remains committed to diversifying the country’s funding sources. With a Japanese yen bond maturing, and a €1bn bond planned, 2017 looks set to offer investors some rare opportunities to buy into Hungary’s improving debt story.

Increasing interest among banks in lending to Russian companies has got a boost at the start of year, with senior officials expressing surprise and admiration at Intesa Sanpaolo’s decision to fully underwrite a loan supporting Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority’s buyout of a stake in Russian oil company Rosneft. Dan Alderson reports.

A strong start to the year for leveraged buyout deals has helped stoke banker confidence that 2017 could be another solid year for event-driven loans following healthy activity in 2016, even as refinancing business bottomed out.

Turkish borrowers face a tough year as security concerns about the country threaten access to a funding market that is already expected to suffer volatility. But bankers say it is business as usual in Turkey, and investors agree that Turkish spreads are still an attractive prospect.