Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
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UniCredit turned to the equity-linked bond market on Thursday to dispose of its last 7.4% stake in Bank Pekao, after agreeing to sell 32.8% of the Polish lender to insurance company Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń and the Polish Development Fund, for Z10.6bn (€2.4bn). -
In this round-up, China saw another sizeable drop to its foreign exchange reserves in November, the Shenzhen Connect saw subdued trading activity in its first four days, and Egypt signed its first currency swap line with China. Plus, a recap of our coverage this week.
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Poland’s plans to issue the first ever sovereign green bond surprised supporters and sceptics alike this week. Climate finance experts are hopeful that the deal marks a major shift in Polish policy to a greener future after the government initially resisted ratifying the UN’s Paris Agreement, writes Virginia Furness.
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Plans for a loan to fund the €10.5bn purchase of a 19.5% stake in Russian oil company Rosneft by a consortium of Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority, announced on Thursday, have left loans bankers in Europe baffled. It is not clear whether it will be syndicated or supplied by only one lender, and there are suggestions that domestic Russian lenders could provide the funding.
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The identity of the bank arranging a loan to fund the privatisation of Russian oil company Rosneft has loans bankers in Europe baffled, which suggests domestic lenders will provide the funding.
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The long saga of Rosneft’s privatisation ended on Wednesday evening with a surprise announcement by the Russian government of the sale of a 19.5% stake in the oil giant to Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority.
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Green bonds have been a hot topic for several years now, but sovereign issuers have been slow to step up to the plate. Until now. Poland is on the road for a euro-denominated green bond and is meeting investors in London this week.
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The first ever sovereign green bond looks set to be issued by Poland — a coal-reliant nation that was once one of the most outspoken opponents of the UN’s Paris Agreement. Despite incredulity from green finance experts, the deal is an important step for green financing. It raises the environmental agenda within Poland, and offers a firmer commitment to green financing than displayed by any other sovereign so far.
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The tortuous saga of Rosneft’s privatisation took another turn on Monday when the Russian oil giant placed a Rb600bn ($9.4bn) bond in the local market.
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Poland is marketing what will be the first ever sovereign green bond. Climate finance experts are hopeful that the deal marks a major shift in Polish policy to a greener future after the government initially resisted ratifying the UN’s Paris Agreement.
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Standard & Poor’s has surprised to the upside, revising Poland’s outlook to stable from negative while maintaining South Africa’s investment grade status last Friday. The latter decision prompted a 15bp-20bp rally in both South African sovereign and corporate debt.
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