Page 9 - BNE_magazine_05_2020

bne May 2020 The Month That Was I 9
Finance
Eastern Europe
The Belarusian government mulls
a new placement of Eurobonds for RUB30mn ($400mn) on the Russian financial market if the cash-strapped nation fails to secure enough financial aid from multinational donors, Belarusian Finance Minister Maksim Yermolovich said. Minsk faces a peak of its public debt repayments of $3.6bn in both external and domestic government debt in 2020 and $3.3bn in 2021.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has
"a strong pipeline of projects" in Belarus in line with the previous yearly record of over $400mn, following
a statement made by the Belarusian government that Minsk is seeking a loan from the EBRD of up to $1bn.
The European Commission has adopted a €1.2bn package to help Ukraine
to limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The package is part of a €3bn macro-financial assistance (MFA) package to 10 enlargement
and neighbourhood partners.
Russia’s Sovcombank is still eyeing an IPO in the medium term, the owner of the bank Sergei Khotimsky told Reuters. Before the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, reports claimed that the IPO was planned for 1H20, with top investment banks lined up to organise it.
The board of Russian state oil major and the country's largest crude producer Rosneft recommended the payment of RUB18.07 per share in its final dividend for 2019, which makes
a total payout of RUB33.4 per share or RUB354bn ($4.8bn). The payout is in line with the company's pledge to pay 50% of IFRS net profit to shareholders.
Central Europe
The European Commission is floating a €2 trillion ($2.2 trillion) plan for economic recovery in parallel with talks between European leaders, as it seeks
a way to put in place a pan-European funding mechanism that would share
the burden of picking up economies battered by the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The world’s largest trading bloc expects output to contract by as much as 10% this year, according to experts.
Sales of Hungary’s “superbond”,
a five-year retail bond MAP Plus, have climbed to HUF53bn (€150mn), the Government Debt Management Agency (AKK) said on April 27. Sales were more than double the HUF20bn in the previous week.
Hungary's Government Debt Management Agency (AKK) has cut
its retail securities sales projection
by more than a fifth while it raised planned gross forint bond issues by 82% and quadrupled the plan for FX bond issues in its updated 2020 financing plan released on April 22.
Optima, the fund manager of the National Bank of Hungary's funds, will acquire a majority stake (61.5%) in Globe Trade Centre, a Polish company trading in Warsaw and Johannesburg from American private equity firm Lone Star Funds.
The net asset value of Hungarian investment funds fell to a 2.5-year low as a result of the plunge in equity prices and the forint's decline, the investment fund association Bamosz said on April 15. The net asset value of Bamosz
funds declined 7% from February to HUF6 trillion (€17.1bn). Funds lost
HUF456bn during the month, while net redemptions came to HUF261bn.
Southeast Europe
Shares in Turkish insurance companies leapt on April 24 after Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) took over insurance and pension companies owned by state banks. Turkey Wealth Fund (TVF) invested Turkish lira (TRY) 6.54bn ($938mn)
in the acquisitions.
Romania will ask the European Union for €1.3bn (0.6% of GDP) to mitigate the effects of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The government has also started talks for €1bn financing from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and can hope to get up to €1bn from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to unofficial sources.
Eurasia
Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna said on April 24 that it has postponed plans to list the Kazakh flagship carrier Air Astana in 2020. The Central Asian nation had plans for the airline’s listing this year on the London Stock Exchange and the Astana International Exchange (AIX).
The Kazakh central bank has recommended local banks and insurers avoid using their accumulated profit for dividend payouts and share buybacks in 2020, it said on April 20. Instead, the regulator suggested that lenders and insurers should use the money to build up capital buffers.
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