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Hungary Arrangers Bayerische Landesbank, Citibank, Deutsche and Sumitomo have signed the $150m five year revolving credit for Magyar Olaj-es Gazipari (Mol).

World Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

EKSPORTFINANS, Norway's export credit agency, will next week launch a benchmark bond for at least $500m equivalent. The transaction could be denominated in dollars or euros and a decision regarding the currency and maturity is expected today (Friday). "The message from the investor meetings is that there is a preference for either a five year dollar transaction or a 10 year euro offering," Anders Bruun-Olsen, senior vice president responsible for funding at Eksportfinans told Euroweek. "We will decide closer to launch depending on market conditions and what gives us the best reception."

GLOBAL co-ordinators, ABN Amro Rothschild, Nomura and Union Bank of Estonia, this week launched the privatisation sale of stock in Estonia Telecom. Although the transaction was known to be on the cards for the early part of this year -- last year the three banks won the mandate to lead the country's largest international equity issue after a hugely competitive beauty parade -- the speed of execution surprised some bankers.

MEMORIES of 1998 proved short-lived this week as the international capital market greeted the new year with an explosion of debt issues from across the credit spectrum.

THE CITY of Florence has inaugurated its newly signed global MTN programme with a $29m 144A issue. Although a series of presentations before the deal's launch generated strong demand across Europe as well as the US, the city opted for a purely US transaction. The 15 year issue fixed rate issue, which has a linear amortising structure and an average life of 7.5 years, came at a spread of 85bp over the 10 year Treasury. The deal was sole lead managed by Merrill Lynch, arranger of the $300m global MTN programme. There is no further group.

THE PIPELINE of new issuance in Europe's high yield market is filling up fast with two issues already being roadshowed and many more believed primed for launch in the coming weeks. A bullish tone to the secondary market has provided a positive backdrop to roadshows for high yield transactions for Willis Corroon and Completel, which both started this week.

TURKISH borrowers will find it hard this year to beat 1998, in terms of successfully syndicated deals. Nearly every 1998 deal was oversubscribed and apart from the final two months of the year, liquidity, or the lack of it, was not an issue.

Commerzbank AG Rating: Aa3/AA-

THE GREEK government will this year seek to divest a fourth tranche of its national operator, OTE. The forthcoming sale of stock in OTE may raise around $500m. However the identity of the lead managers has yet to be confirmed. The Greek government has a history of revolving its favours among groups of international investment banks although it has tended to focus on a group including CSFB, HSBC and Salomon Smith Barney, in addition to a local bank.

>* DePfa Rating: Aa3

WITH THE US market moving through 9,500 for the first time Wall Street's investment banks are set to launch a wide variety of new equity issues in the first weeks of 1999. The 223 point surge in the broad market was fuelled by investors bidding up hi-tech and blue chip stocks on the back of the merger negotiations between AirTouch and Vodafone. Nasdaq, too, benefited from a surge in activity by gaining ground to more than 2,320.