Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Mikhail Gutseriyev, the largest shareholder in M.video-Eldorado Group (M.video), the Russian e-commerce and electronics company, is seeking to sell 24.2m shares on the Moscow exchange in a secondary public offering. The firm says that the move should help improve the liquidity of the stock.

Latvia was set to sell a bond in euros on Wednesday, which market participants said was set to be priced very tightly.

Turkish lender Akbank is in the syndicated loan market with its debut ESG deal, according to sources. The bank has been able to tighten pricing on the refinancing, meaning that it has enough competitively priced funding for it not to need to come to the bond market.

Rosatom, the Russian nuclear power company, is using a $300m sustainability-linked loan for part of the financing of Akkuyu, the first nuclear power plant to be built in Turkey — a sign of how fast and far the concept of sustainability-linked finance is spreading.

Rating: —/BB-/BB+

The US this week confirmed it would follow the EU and sanction certain Russian individuals in connection with the poisoning of prominent opposition leader and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The announcements did not move markets, and are a far cry from the worst-case scenario some had feared.

CTP Logistics, a commercial real-estate developer based in the Czech Republic, has launched an IPO on the Amsterdam stock exchange.

Belfius Bank is looking to amend the terms and conditions of one of its tier twos so that it can remain eligible for the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL). The bond was issued with risk factor language under English law but will now need to be updated to reflect the UK’s departure from the EU.

North Macedonia launched a new bond in euros on Wednesday, following deals last week from fellow central and eastern European sovereigns issuers, Serbia and Croatia.

The City of Moscow will enter the bond market as soon as this spring, after a long hiatus from the market, according to a senior politician. The municipality has also set its sights on a green bond, which would mark a first for the government.

Rusal, the Russian aluminium company, has arranged a 15 year syndicated loan from a consortium of local lenders. Funds will support the development of a smelting project in Siberia, which the company claims is environmentally friendly.

Fix Price, the discount Russian retailer, priced its London and Moscow IPO on Thursday after managing to secure some of the world’s highest quality investors as cornerstones at the beginning of the week.