Page 9 - BNE_magazine_12_2019 dec19

bne December 2019 The Month That Was I 9
Finance
Eastern Europe
Ukraine’s banking sector had
a profitable September, earning UAH4bn ($161mn) in the month to bring the cumulative earnings for 2019 to UAH48.4bn as of September. That is a lot better than last year when it lost money.
Russia’s VTB Capital will join the pool of organisers of an IPO for Yandex. Taxi which has recently been valued at $7.7bn-$8.5bn by Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lyn and Sberbank CIB.
Russian natural gas giant Gazprom moved to sell 3.59% of its quasi- treasury shares on Moscow Exchange on November 21, following up on the surprise SPO of 2.93% in July. The stake was a sold to an unnamed insider at a 11% discount to the market price.
Russian hydropower major Rushydro placed 5-year ruble denominated Eurobonds worth RUB15bn ($235mn) at 6.8% annual yield on November
18. Demand for the issue exceeded
the supply more than four-fold at over RUB60bn, with the initial yield guidance lowered from 7%-7.15% to 6.8%.
Multi-industry investment conglomerate AFK Sistema and Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will issue over 150mn additional shares
in children’s goods retailer Detsky Mir, or at least 20% of its share capital currently amounting to RUB15bn ($230mn). As reported by
bne IntelliNews, Sistema has been seeking to SPO or sell the asset.
Pawnshop chain MosGorLombard
is considering holding an IPO on
the Moscow Exchange in the first quarter of 2021, making the first
of its kind public offering in Russia. Reportedly, MosGorLombard plans to raise RUB4bn over three years. 20% of the capital would be made public, while 5% is planned to be placed on a closed subscription.
Ukraine is going to finish its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2023, and
a new programme being negotiated in 2019 should become the last one for the country, the nation's Finance Minister Oksana Markarova said.
Central Europe
The International Investment Bank (IIB) successfully closed its fifth and largest bond issue in local currency on the Bucharest Stock Exchange
on October 30, and raised RON500mn (€105mn), the bank announced.
This issue is the largest outstanding corporate/supranational bond ever on the Romanian market and represents the first fixed rate bond issued in Romania by the IIB.
Home Credit Group of Czech billionaire Peter Kellner decided to postpone a listing of its shares on the main market of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange due to poor market conditions. Home Credit applied for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July.
Southeast Europe
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on November 8 presented
a report to Turkish regulators and banks that makes 30 recommendations on how Turkey can restructure laws and markets to enable foreign companies to easily buy some of the tens of billions of dollars in bad debt held by its lenders.
The proposals include permitting the securitisation of non-performing loans (NPLs), the protection of lenders from embezzlement charges and allowing sales to firms licensed elsewhere.
Kosovo Telecom, the largest telecoms company in the country, is facing bankruptcy as it is unable to repay its debt to the Kosovo Tax Administration (TAK). Kosovo Telecom has been struggling to find a solution to its difficult financial situation for months after the government said it won’t repay the company’s debt.
IGA, the operator of Turkey’s one- year-old mega international airport, is reportedly seeking to refinance up to €5bn ($5.6bn) in loans it used to construct the facility. The airport has got off to a less than auspicious start. Officials are ambitious to develop it until it reaches the status of “world’s largest airport”, but it is experiencing substantial teething problems.
Eurasia
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a $100mn credit for Uzbekistan from the International Development Association (IDA) for a project aimed at improving the quality of basic infrastructure, including schools, roads and internet service. Village residents will be allowed to collectively decide which priorities will receive funding, the World Bank said.
Uzbekistan may soon sell shares
in some of its largest state-owned companies such as energy firm Uzbekneftegaz and gold and uranium miner Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combine (NMMC), Sunatulla Bekenov, head of the State Asset Management Agency said.
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