Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

New sanctions from the EU on Russian figures following the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny are set to have little impact on Russia, according to market experts. However, companies withdrawing from the Nord Stream 2 project indicate a growing uneasiness around conducting business with Russian entities.

EP Infrastructure, the Czech Republic-headquartered energy infrastructure group, launched a euro bond on Tuesday. By midday, books had almost reached €3bn.

Expectations of increased demand for emerging market local currency bonds are starting to wane, as the macroeconomic backdrop and interest rate volatility point to a stronger dollar in the short term.

Fix Price, the Russian discount retailer, has confirmed its intention to float in London and Moscow, paving the way for a $1bn-plus IPO.

EP Infrastructure, the Czech Republic-headquartered energy infrastructure group has mandated banks to syndicate a bond in euros. Though much of supply from the CEE region last year came from sovereigns, market participants believe now is a good time for corporates to issue in debt markets.

A sustained revival of confidence in Turkish markets has caused the lira and other metrics to improve in recent days. That, market participants said, has strengthened the country's standing in international debt markets to the point where it could consider a long dated new issue, though concerns around rising US rates are simmering away in the background.

Negotiations between the International Monetary Fund and some emerging market countries are yielding mixed results. While some sub-Saharan African sovereigns are making progress in their talks, Ukraine's long-running saga to unlock emergency funding has been unsuccessful so far.

Syndicated lending volumes, particularly across emerging markets, have tumbled since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year. Though some had hopes that 2021 would yield more activity for lending desks, that optimism has been postponed to next year, as lenders say they simply cannot compete with other asset classes for business.

Česká zbrojovka Group (CZG), a Czech firearms company, has mandated banks to arrange a local currency bond, which investors say is a developing trend. The bond will contribute to CZG’s planned acquisition of US arms major Colt.

Fix Price, the Russian owner of discount variety stores, filed initial paperwork for listings in London and Moscow on Monday. The company gives investors a very different sort of offering than recent European tech listings but is still providing buyers with huge growth metrics.

Ever rising stock prices, despite the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and a looming global recession, have prompted fears that equity markets are becoming frothy or even a bubble. In such an environment, many investors begin to turn to safer assets and Vladislav Barshinov, CEO of Russia’s GV Gold, is hoping that investors will look to gold as his company considers the possibility of an IPO in 2021.

The spectre of imminent US-led sanctions against Russia has reappeared following the controversial imprisonment of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. While some say “Fortress Russia” will survive with or without sanctions, others believe the country’s already isolated capital markets and its access to funding could come under intense strain, writes Mariam Meskin.