Russia

Gazprom’s bondholders have allowed it to modify the terms and conditions of its £500m 5.338% loan participation notes due 2020, the company announced on Thursday.

Analysts expect Russian borrowers’ foreign currency debt redemptions to put pressure on the rouble, despite the central bank’s efforts to downplay the effect.

Russia’s Lukoil has signed a $440m syndicated loan with four commercial banks, as part of $1bn of loans backed by development banks.

UniCredit’s second quarter profits were up almost 30% from last year, with the commercial and investment bank and Italian commercial bank taking most of the credit. The CEE business remains important, but Russia dragged the division sharply down.

Gazprom Marketing & Trading’s (GM&T) $500m credit facility was launched at $350m and increased to $500m after strong demand from banks, including a number of Asian names.

Russian oil company Lukoil is bringing forward another rare Russian loan by syndicating the $500m tranche of a $1bn loan, which is due to close imminently according to bankers.

Gunvor Group started a buyback offer on its dollar bonds this week, prompted by a $1.7bn profit it made from selling Russian assets.

Lukoil is due to close syndication imminently on the first $500m tranche of a $1bn loan backed by the Asian Development Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, according to bankers close to the deal.

Russian fertiliser producer Uralchem is in the advanced stages of syndicating a $400m four year loan and like other Russian deals seen this year, the loan is self-arranged, according to bankers.

Ak Bars Bank launched the first Russian new issue of this year on Thursday evening in London, pricing at a yield of 8% from a book approaching $450m.

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Russian Uralchem is in the advanced stages of syndicating a $400m loan with a four year tenor, according to bankers on the deal.