Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Russian Railways ventured into the Swiss franc market this week to sell the first hybrid corporate bond in over two years, a sign of a maturing Swissie market, according to local market participants.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has brought relief to emerging market investors by exceeding market participants’ expectations and delivering a 200bp rate hike.

Despite the disruption that the coronavirus pandemic and, more recently, volatility in global markets have brought to emerging market debt, issuers in the CEEMEA region are not backing away from their pivot towards ESG financing. Though concerns about greenwashing are holding the market back, new sustainability-linked and transition structures are tempting issuers.

Russian hypermarket and grocery store chain Lenta is considering a share sale to boost the freefloat of its stock and raise capital to finance acquisitions.

Všeobecná úverova banka (VUB) issued a €500m five year covered bond on Wednesday at the tightest spread for any issuer from Slovakia. At the same time the Mortgage Society of Finland issued a sub-benchmark sized 10 year at close to fair value. The resounding outcomes for both deals partly reflected the generous spreads on offer. At the same time OP Mortgage Bank has announced plans to issue its debut green covered bond.

CTP Logistics, a commercial property developer based in the Czech Republic, began bookbuilding for its IPO on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Wednesday.

A Z4.59bn ($1.2bn) block in Allegro, the Polish e-commerce company, met with strong demand from equity investors on Tuesday night, with investors eager to buy more of the stock which was listed to acclaim in Europe last year.

GV Gold, the Russian gold miner, has launched an IPO on the Moscow stock exchange with sources close to the deal saying that 2021 is an opportune time for the miner to go public.

Russian Railways issued a rouble bond on Thursday. Russian companies may steer away from the dollar market as discussions around fresh sanctions on Russia continue.

A $240m equivalent sale of shares in M.video the Russian electronics retailer, was warmly welcomed by investors this week and has more than doubled the freefloat of the company.

Rating: A3/A+/A-

Turkey's international bond market access is once again in question. Rising US Treasury yields have put affordable dollar funding beyond the sovereign for now, bankers believe, undoing the good done by a move back to orthodox monetary policy late last year, after months of inflation and a plunging lira. A rate hike next week may help restore issuance prospects, writes Mariam Meskin.