Russia

Russia’s Rusal was on track to print the first corporate bond from the region of 2017 on Thursday but with 13 banks on the trade, the pricing debate was proving to be furious.

Polyus Gold is plotting a rapid return to the Eurobond market following its successful outing in October last year.

Russian Eurobond volumes will be higher in 2017 as corporate borrowers rush to take advantage of strong investor demand amid expectations that the US will soften its stance on sanctions towards Russia, say Russian bankers.

Bankers hope 2017 will prove a more vibrant year for Russian IPOs, after the country's stockmarket was one of Europe's best performers last year and Western investors are thawing towards it.

Russian corporate bond issuance for 2017 looks set to begin with Rusal, the world’s second largest commodity producer, which has gone through multiple debt restructurings.

The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is to introduce a weekly expiry of options on the Russian Trading System (RTS) stock index.

Detsky Mir, the Russian children’s goods retailer, has announced its intention to float on the Moscow Exchange, more than two years after shelving plans to go public when Western sanctions were imposed on some Russian entities after the country's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and Russia suffered a recession.

A giddiness is entering the Russian loan market over the speed at which deals are lining up, with bankers looking for a bold reopening even as the country’s political relations with the US come under the growing glare of public scrutiny. Dan Alderson reports.

Loan bankers’ enthusiasm to undertake more Russian business this year looks set to translate into deals soon, with Russian Railways in talks about a new money club loan.

Increasing interest among banks in lending to Russian companies has got a boost at the start of year, with senior officials expressing surprise and admiration at Intesa Sanpaolo’s decision to fully underwrite a loan supporting Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority’s buyout of a stake in Russian oil company Rosneft. Dan Alderson reports.

Intesa Sanpaolo is seeking other banks to join the €5.2bn loan it has fully underwritten to support Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority in their acquisition of a stake in Rosneft, the Russian oil company.

The next chapter of the renminbi internationalisation process could soon be taking place in the commodities market with Amundi Asset Management predicting the rise of petro-renminbi in 2017.