In fashion, as in finance, things move quickly. It is clear from Moscow’s ubiquitous designer handbags and expensively tailored suits that the 1990s are but a fading memory for the devoted fashionistas of the new millennium. But in finance, the 1990s are still very much at the front of people’s minds. For those outside Russia looking in, the association between the past and the present is very strong. That decade is a time remembered for lawlessness, corruption and chaos of astonishing proportions in Russia. Some in the West have not revised...Read more
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International investment banks are falling over themselves to commit resources to Russia, identifying it as a key source of revenue for the future, especially as many other markets falter. Inevitably, as more US and European banks enter the market and increase their headcount in Russia, their own cultures will begin to permeate the country, but to what extent? Solomon Teague reports.
From a legal perspective, it pays to keep M&A deals offshore in Russia, according to Sergey Komolov, partner at Hogan & Hartson in Moscow. Global M&A deals are typically completed according to English law, but Russian courts would have trouble applying it, he explained. If either of the entities involved in a transaction is outside Russia, the legal documentation is likely to be governed by English law or in certain cases by the law of the relevant jurisdiction, he said. Regardless of the nationality of the companies involved in a merger, it is...
Russia is no longer seen simply as home to an assortment of companies ripe for picking by foreign firms. Russian companies are now themselves consolidating, and are even looking hungrily at targets to their east and west. Solomon Teague reports.
“The black cloud hanging over Russia is inflation,” said Stephen Cohen, managing director of asset management at Troika Dialog UK, a significant investor in the country. It is a problem the government is well aware of and is trying to manage it via a taskforce headed by the former deputy prime minister Alexei Kudrin. “The results remain to be seen,” said Cohen. Russia has built up a Stabalisation Fund worth US$500bn and is on the cusp of using some of this money on an astronomical investment in its infrastructure throughout the country. “Russia...
The commodities industry in Russia has been likened to a drug: what feels good now may turn out to have a nastier side effect. Others insist Russia is spending its oil and mineral largesse in a way that will ensure growth for years to come, smoothing out future volatility. Solomon Teague investigates Russia’s commodities habit.
Western banks are still enjoying lively conditions in Russian syndicated loans but how long can it be before the vice-like grip of the credit crunch squeezes the life out of it? The business is experiencing threats from all sides, including the maturing bond market and local banks who hope they can one day become the key players in Russian loans, as Solomon Teague reports.
Russia’s derivatives market has been stunted by a legal association with gambling, which in the past has made derivatives contracts legally unenforceable. Some progress has been made in rectifying this situation, however, as in 2007 futures contracts were officially recognised on the statute books. That gives them – technically, at least – a sound, legal basis. Solomon Teague reports.
A generation on from the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russia is still plagued by the shortcomings of communism – with a critical shortage of housing perhaps the most pressing. It is a problem that the government is keen to tackle and it has turned to the ingenuity of structured finance to resolve it. Benjamin Seeder reports.
An explosion of activity has made Russia one of the most active countries in the world for ECM issuance, but the recent secondary market volatility has left Russian stocks at a discount to other emerging markets. The development of Russian depositary receipts promises a surge of issuance from foreign-registered companies looking to take advantage of the huge increase in wealth across the region, reports Ian Forrest.
Russian banks had little direct exposure to US sub-prime mortgages but the impact of the sub-prime mortgage crisis has nonetheless affected the ability of Russian corporates and banks to raise funds in the international capital markets. Michael Pugh and Jonathan Russell of Lovells report.
Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia remains the world’s largest country stretching from Kaliningrad on the Baltic shores to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski on the Bering Sea. With each region generous with a natural resource – be it Karelian gas, Yakutian diamonds or Siberian oil – Russia has much to offer. Bakyt Azimkanov reports.
A month before the presidential vote Russian president-elect Dmitry Medvedev laid out the bulk of his reform programme during a speech at an economic forum in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk. It is a liberal programme and builds on President Vladimir Putin reforms, but shifts the focus away from the strategic sections like banks and hydrocarbons which occupied most of Putin’s time and towards promoting small- and medium-sized enterprise, the social services and will attempt to tackle the long-overdue administrative reforms. It is an extremely ambitious...
Russians endorsed 10 years of Putin’s rule by voting overwhelmingly for Medvedev to continue the work of his predecessor. Foreigners howl at perceived attacks on democratic principles. So what exactly is going on at the Kremlin – and should it matter to the markets? Ben Aris reports.
The rouble bond market has seen a dramatic growth in the last three years with the present pipeline bulging over Rbs700bn. Last year more than 232 bonds were placed representing around 221 issuers. Although the current liquidity squeeze has put the issuance on halt, corporates are still on the rise. Bakyt Azimkanov reports.