Russia

Oleg Deripaska is to step down from his role as president of EN+, the Russian aluminium and hydropower company, which floated for $1.5bn in London and Moscow in November, and as president of its affiliate Rusal, as part of a pre-planned organisational change in which he will shift focus to other business interests.

A hardening of the US attitude to Iran, tensions with Turkey and the Qatari crisis may be closing some doors for trade in the Middle East but experts are convinced it is opening others, with China's One Belt, One Road initiative pushing countries such as China, India and Russia towards the region.

Deal flow in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is picking up, according to international loan bankers, with more pre-export finance facilities from Russia and some anticipated event driven transactions in the rest of the region.

GTLK, Russia’s state transport leasing company, on Tuesday postponed its dollar Reg S seven year amortising bond, blaming “broader market volatility” for the move. But investors looking at the note said the postponement was more a sign of the buyside becoming more discerning.

GTLK, Russia’s state transport leasing company, is adding to the flurry of Russian bonds printed since the start of this year, but leads have been unable to crunch the final yield tighter from initial price thoughts.

Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital on Monday revealed that it had set up an algorithmic trading unit to take advantage of volatility in financial markets.

Credit Bank of Moscow and Domodedovo Airport (DME) brought the total Eurobond tally of Russian issuers this year to seven this week. Those latest two issuers jumped in shortly after Directive 1 sanction fears were quashed by the US Treasury.

RusHydro, the Russian hydroelectric power generator, issued the first local currency Eurobond of 2018 with a three year note on Thursday. Bond bankers said that internationally cleared local currency bonds would gain increasing traction this year.

Credit Bank of Moscow printed a $500m five year bond from a book in excess of $1.1bn on Wednesday, quelling fears of EM new issues shutting down in face of US Treasury yield rises. Domodedovo Airport looks next to print in dollars from the country while the State Transport Leasing Company has also mandated for a bond.

RusHydro, the Russian hydroelectric power generator, kicked off local currency Eurobonds for 2018 with a three year note on Thursday. DCM bankers said that internationally cleared local currency bonds will gain increasing traction this year.

Rival bankers are keenly watching Credit Bank of Moscow’s trade as a barometer for the market this week. A sell-off in US Treasuries seemed to imply a higher borrowing cost for the issuer, though with price revisions to come, it is too early to say by how much.

Last week’s chatter in the bond markets about the US applying a new round of sanctions on Russia served to highlight how little investors feel threatened by this kind of talk. Now the US has to take action to affect Russia.