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on the exchange.
Minfin announced that from 7 April until 5 May the purchase of the foreign currency will total only RUB69.9 bn or RUB3.5 bn per day ($61 mn). This amount is smaller than in the previous month, when Minfin significantly decreased its purchases from RUB111 bn in February to RUB71 bn in March.
Continuing decline of the Minfin forex purchase combined with the CBR rate cut could intensify the ruble appreciation in the nearest weeks: analysts expect RUB60-65/$ range as the currency fair value, but the return to this level is not likely to take place before the second half of this year.
The Moscow-based International Investment Bank (IIB) did its inaugural deal in local currency in Romania. IIB participate in a syndicated facility for MEP Retail Investments S.R.L. (Romania) to acquire Romania’s Profi retail network of supermarkets, it said in an April 7 press release. The syndicate participants also included the Citibank N.A., London Branch, Citibank Europe plc, Dublin, Romania Branch, ING Bank N.V., London Branch, Raiffeisen Bank International AG and UniCredit SpA. The deal is strategically important for the IIB as the loan facility is being provided for the first time in a local currency.
63 RUSSIA Country Report April 2017 www.intellinews.com