Page 78 - RusRPTAug19

driven by prospects of lower interest rates by the US Fed. Should such market conditions prevail, more deals are expected in autumn, although reaching $20bn in Eurobonds issued in 2017 is seen as unlikely.
In the local market Russian companies borrowed RUB1.5 trillion in 2019 so far, which makes another $25bn.
Non-residents and foreign banks’ demand for OFZ government bonds
offered at the Finance Ministry's auctions remained high in June at RUB42bn, accounting for 39% of the offer. On the secondary market, OFZ bond purchases by foreign market participants hit RUB53bn, a record high since 2018 and 30% more than in May.The share of non-residents in the OFZ market broke through 30% of the total, but is still below the 34% it reached in 2018.
The current situation, however, differs a lot from the one 6-12 months ago. Investors understand this very well, actively buying Russian bonds for several months now – non-residents upped their investments in OFZs by RUB220bn in May, or almost 10%, to hit a new historical high of RUB2.5tn, according to the CBR. The share of foreign OFZ holders rose to 30% vs 24% at the year-beginning (still below the historical record of 34.5% set on 1 April 2018 ahead of sanctions against UC Rusal).
78 RUSSIA Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com