Russia

Banks have been dipping their toes back into the unsecured loan pool this year as their appetite for Russian credits has grown, three years after the annexation of Crimea. Alongside loan structures loosening, pricing has also dropped to near pre-sanction levels as the demand for deals outstrips supply.

An undisclosed shareholder has sold $114m of shares in Mail.ru, the Russian internet services company. The sale came a month after the company's co-founder Dimitry Grishin placed 4.7m global depositary receipts with institutional investors in a block trade, after numerous reverse enquiries.

The inaugural issuance of Baikal bonds — denominated in renminbi and issued in Russia — has come closer this week as the Russian Ministry of Finance toured Hong Kong and Mainland China on a non-deal roadshow, sources told GlobalRMB.

Norilsk Nickel, the Russian nickel and palladium producer, is in the market for over $1bn through a syndicated loan. The facility is unsecured, and pricing has been driven down to pre-sanctions levels, showing the risk appetite for Russian credits is on the rise.

In what is turning out to be a busy week for block trades, shareholders in Etalon Group, one of Russia's biggest residential property developers, are tonight selling a 10% stake in the company worth $109m, in the form of London-listed GDRs.

Russian energy company Gazprom has signed a €1bn loan in Tokyo with a trio of banks, adding to its repertoire of funding tools this year.

Moscow Exchange (MOEX) on Monday expressed its intention to be recognised as a third-country trading venue under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), listing some of the steps it has taken to become compliant.

The Russian loan market is moving towards more unsecured deals with Russian paper company Ilim signing the fourth unsecured deal this year, for $500m.

Oleg Tinkov, the Russian billionaire, has sold a stake in TCS Group Holding, the London-listed Russian retail bank he founded, for the first time since its $1bn IPO in 2013, taking advantage of a strong rally in the stock this year.

Russia’s State Transport Leasing Co (GTLK) is planning investor update meetings next Monday.

Gazprom this week sold its first euro denominated bond of the year, a €750m seven year, with a new issue premium that a lead manager has estimated at only 0bp-2bp.

Russian retailer Magnit is continuing its capital raising efforts, after its CEO Sergey Galitskiy sold a block of shares on Tuesday night, in the first leg of what is locally called “a top-up” transaction.