Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Republic of Poland raised €500m with its longest ever syndicated bond as part of its push to extend the average duration of the country’s debt by taking advantage of low rates, as Slovenia made plans to reduce debt costs by buying back three of its dollar bonds.

Investors are soon to be treated to the lowest rated Russian bank debt since 2012 as Tatfondbank embarked on a roadshow for a three year deal to test just how strong demand is for the asset class.

The Polish national champion successfully issued its first euro denominated covered bond benchmark on Monday, and the first publicly syndicated deal ever issued by a Polish bank in the euro market.

Turkey shrugged of its second downgrade to junk on Friday to print a $1.5bn reopening of its 2026s. And if a sovereign bond was not proof enough that it is capital markets business as usual for the country, state-owned Turkiye Is Bankasi AS (Isbank) was out with a long five year on Monday morning.

Lenders are preparing the financing package for the $3.2bn leveraged buyout of Polish online retailer Allegro. A loan for the deal is likely to be mostly dollar denominated, bankers said.

Next week is likely to be one of the busiest in the fourth quarter in covered bonds, as a string of debut deals emerge, along with the first ever publicly syndicated euro benchmark from Poland.

Poland’s Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) is tapping the 10 year bond with which it made its debut earlier this year.

A flurry of follow-on equity sales this week, mostly block trades, showed that investors still want stock, sometimes at tight discounts, even while three IPOs had to be abandoned.

Russia plans to raise $7bn in the international markets next year as part of a three pillared approach to reduce its budget deficit, as sanctions and low oil prices continue to stunt its growth.

Eastern European telecoms operator RCS&RDS on Thursday printed a refinancing euro bond that was first planned in euros and Romanian leu, while it mulls a potential IPO.

Ojer Telekomunikasyon (Otas), the majority owner of Turk Telekom, failed to make a $290m payment on a $4.75bn loan which was signed in September 2013, according to a news report on Wednesday. But two bankers were quick to say that Otas's fate was not indicative of all Turkish borrowers.

Muted demand for Russian bank debt hit Promsvyazbank (PSB) as it struggled over the line on Wednesday with a deal, following compatriot Otkritie's trade last week. Worse still, access to longer term funding, which PSB says it needs, looks some way off.