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Two new deals from Gazprom and MTS have cemented Russian corporate paper as the must-have asset of 2003. Kathryn Wells reports on how the corporates' success is managing to draw previously sceptical US investors back to Russian credits. Russian corporates have begun 2003 as they left off last year, with Gazprom proving to investors that big is definitely beautiful when it comes to Eurobonds. The world's largest natural gas producer launched a $1.75bn 10 year offering at the end of February, the biggest ever bond by an emerging market corporate.

German bankers have been singing the praises of synthetic securitisation, a technique that allows issuers to avoid the country's high tax payable on special purpose vehicles. But there are some members of the choir who are still keen to see the market open up to true sale deals, and the cost savings that accompany them.

The flexibility of the EuroMTN market has enabled it to thrive at a time when the equity and public bond markets have been volatile and closed to many borrowers. Investors have been able to boost their returns by turning from credit to interest rate risk, while issuers have been able to move quickly to take advantage of pockets of demand. Neil Day reports on how MTN dealers have been keeping liquidity flowing.

In a exclusive interview with EuroWeek, David Iakobachvili, chairman of dairy products and fruit juice producer Wimm-Bill-Dann - the first Russian consumer goods company to list on the New York Stock Exchange, in February 2002 - shares his thoughts on the lessons he has learnt from the initial public offering and gives an insight into the ambitious company's plans. Guy Norton reports. What did you learn from meeting international equity investors on the roadshow for your IPO last year?

Australia Macquarie Bank has launched Australian lender Members Equity's latest securitisation of residential mortgages. The lead manager expects to price the A$310m deal, ME's largest to date, early next week.

Despite the Tokyo market yesterday (Thursday) plumbing 20 year lows, the country's first jumbo IPO of the year is under way. Taiyo Life Insurance is due to begin trading on the Tokyo Stock exchange on April 1 following an offer which could raise more than ¥90bn ($770m).

AUSTRALASIA Australia

CitiPower capitalised on a dearth of corporate bond issuance and the renown of its owners to launch a three tranche A$675m issue to strong demand on Monday. The Australian electricity distributor launched unwrapped and wrapped tranches to appeal to as broad an investor base as possible, in a manner similar to Snowy Hydro's A$500m issue last week. The tactic was a success, drawing in strong institutional investor interest and helping to minimise the spread difference between each tranche.