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bne June 2018 The Month That Was I 9
Finance
Eastern Europe
Russia's largest oil company Rosneft slashed its short-term debt in the first quarter of 2018 from RUB2.2 trillion ($35.7bn) to RUB1.1 trillion, while total debt inched up by 1% to RUB5.5 trillion.
Russia's largest oil company Rosneft said it will launch a $2bn share buyback program running from the second quarter of 2018 to 2020 – the first share buyback since its IPO in 2006. In April the com- pany pledged to cut its record-high debt burden to investors as well.
Russia's second-largest oil producer, the privately owned Lukoil has taken advantage of the falling price of Rus- sian debt and redeemed $1.5bn worth of 5-year Eurobonds issued in 2013 carrying a coupon of 3.416%.
Russian encrypted messaging app Telegram has scrapped plans to hold a public issue of digital tokens. The company needs no additional funds after raising a record-high $1.7bn in two rounds of private ICOs.
Russian state-owned development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) report- ed a record net loss of RUB288bn ($4.5bn) for 2017, soaring 2.6-fold year- on-year, the bank said on April 27.
UK-registered Russian gold miner High- land Gold has proposed to its share- holders to choose between receiving cash or equity in the next dividend payment. Allowing the board to pay the dividends using shares instead of money would be a first for a Russian company.
Central Europe
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Estonia's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at A+ with a positive outlook, the agency said on May 4. Estonia's rating remains under- pinned by a strong sovereign balance sheet, an effect of sound policies that also boost economic growth in the Baltic state.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) and UniCredit have secured a new credit line worth €340mn designated for innovative SMEs in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia.
Polish demand for mortgage loans expanded 18.5% y/y in April, the Cred- it Information Bureau (BIK) says. The rising interest in mortgages is under- pinned by the strong Polish economy and tightening labour market, which is driving up wages. Persistently low inter- est rates also play a role.
Eurasia
Chairman of Iran’s Parliamentary Economic Commission Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahami said that Iran has experienced some $2.5bn in capital flight via cryptocurrencies. Iranians are looking for ways to protect their assets with the Iranian rial having sunk to a record black market low amid Iran’s nuclear deal troubles with the US.
S&P Global Ratings affirmed the ‘BB- /B’ ratings of Georgia and said the out- look was stable. Georgia's growth is set to remain strong and its IMF programme should mitigate balance of payment risks and act as a fiscal policy anchor, it said.
Astana’s International Arbitration Centre (IAC) is adding Islamic law special- ists to its dispute resolution services. The IAC was launched in January to complement the new Astana International Financial Center (AIFC). The AIFC expects the Kazakh government to issue Islamic bonds, or Sukuk, in the coming months.
no surprise. Analysts see room for yet another increase near the end of 2018.
The combined net profit of Albanian commercial banks fell by 16.4% y/y to ALL4.824bn (€37.8mn) at the end of the first quarter of 2018, central bank data showed. Banks' profits jumped by 138% y/y in 2017. Profitability was weak dur- ing 2016 and profits lower than in 2015.
The gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of Albanian commercial banks fell to 13.43% of the total loan portfolio in March, compared to 17.44% in the same month last year, according to cen- tral bank data released on May 4.
Assets of commercial banks in Bosnia & Herzegovina increased by 9.6% y/y in March, accelerating from the 8.6% y/y growth in February and reaching BAM28.77bn (€14.71bn), central bank (CBBH) said.
Czech based energy group Energo-Pro issued bonds worth €250mn on the London Stock Exchange that will be used to refinance debt. The company, which supplies all of Central and South- east Europe, said its bonds were placed mainly with international investors.
Slovak banks have reported their most successful quarter since 2011. Total net profit increased by 2.8% y/y
in Q1 to €169.5mn, the Slovak National Bank (NBS) announced on April 30. The main driver was financial operations revenues, the Slovak Bank Association said. Banks also reported an increase in net profit from fees and commissions, which grew by 4.8% to €139mn.
Southeast Europe
Romania’s central bank on May 7 raised the benchmark interest rate by 0.25pp to 2.5%. The bank has now raised rates three times this year, by 0.75pp, to tame inflation, and came as
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