Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Russia plans to raise $7bn in the international markets next year and is working towards a radical overhaul of its capital markets to decrease pressure on the country’s strained banks, Sergei Storchak, deputy minister of finance, told GlobalCapital's sister publication Global Markets.

The vice-president of the New Development Bank, Paulo Nogueira Batista Junior, tells GlobalMarkets how his institution is lending on projects and issuing green bonds in line with the increasing concern with environmental issues

Terrorism, a military coup attempt, and a sovereign downgrade have failed to deter dedicated EM investment in Turkey, but deteriorating growth prospects and increasing nationalism, which could further strain relations with Europe, may threaten staying power in the long run, say economists.

EuroChem tightened pricing for its $500m bond by 45bp in what the issuer described as the lowest ever dollar coupon for a non-investment grade Russian borrower.

Russia’s Promsvyazbank is preparing a roadshow for a dollar bond of three or 3.5 years, following Otkritie Bank’s trade earlier this week.

Turkey’s Yapi Kredi has completed its loan refinancing, bringing in $1.1bn in dollars and euros, in a deal where the margins increased just last week after the bank was downgraded.

Otkritie Bank returned to the international bond market for the first time since the start of the Russia crisis on Tuesday, surprising market watchers with its tactics with no explanation offered.

After a slow start to the week, emerging market investors were offered a smorgasbord of options as borrowers from four continents and across the credit spectrum launched bonds in dollars and euros.

Attitudes towards Russian credits have miraculously softened this year and the friendly new outlook has even filtered to the loan market, as last week Norilsk Nickel signed the first sizeable unsecured dollar loan since the EU and US imposed their sanctions. But loans bankers would do well to remember what drove them away from Russian deals in the first place.

Russia’s Norilsk Nickel has signed a $500m new money loan from five lenders, a deal which could set a precedent for Russian companies borrowing in the shadow of financial sanctions. However, tough operating conditions remain for the firm.

Otkritie Bank took advantage of surging demand for Russian hard currency bonds on Tuesday to come to market with a long awaited dollar Reg S senior unsecured deal.

Latvia saw strong demand for a new 10 year euro deal against a choppy market backdrop on Friday.