Russia’s Segezha timber products maker to hold IPO

Russian timber products manufacturer Segezha, a subsidiary of Russian conglomerate Sistema, has announced a plan to hold an initial public offering (IPO) of ordinary shares. The IPO would be held on the Moscow Exchange. Segezha expects to raise at least 30bn roubles ($396m at the April 14 exchange rate) via a primary offering of newly… Continue Reading

Buildings in Tashkent, mountain resorts on sale under Uzbekistan privatisation project

Uzbekistan’s government plans to sell several properties, including three mountain resorts, under a real estate privatisation project announced last week. Five properties with a total floor space of 85,490 square metres (920,000 square feet) are going on sale in capital city Tashkent. They are a business centre, hotel, indoor houseware market, newspaper printing office and… Continue Reading

ActivTrades: Inflation concerns a key world stock market factor

An analyst at London-based financial broker ActivTrades has argued that mixed developments in global stock markets this week are “broadly a reflection of lingering inflation concerns”. Investors expect an early rise in inflation in the United States because of the current successful vaccine rollouts there, technical analyst Pierre Veyret said in a statement. On the… Continue Reading

Russia’s Sberbank buying out e-commerce firm goods.ru

By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has signed a deal to buy out goods.ru (Marketplace), a Russian e-commerce company selling a wide range of consumer goods, among them electronics, car accessories, furniture, toys and medicines. Sberbank is going to acquire an 85 per cent stake in goods.ru by buying part of Russian electronics retailer… Continue Reading

Russian gold miner GV Gold puts off IPO over market ‘volatility’

GV Gold, one of Russia’s largest gold miners, has postponed a planned initial public offering (IPO) because of what its chief executive officer has described as “elevated levels of market volatility in global and Russian capital markets”. The IPO was to be held on the Moscow Exchange. Trading had been scheduled to start on March… Continue Reading

Financial literacy in UK not very high – Uswitch survey

By Andrei Skvarsky. A survey by British price comparison service Uswitch suggests that the average Briton is not too savvy about financial terminology with about one-fifth of the British failing to fully understand the term “pension” and about a quarter not being completely sure what “interest rate” means. Investment jargon is a set of financial… Continue Reading

Olga Turischeva hired from VC firm to head Sber University

Sberbank Corporate University (Sber University), an institution belonging to Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, has a new rector, Olga Turischeva, who has been hired from Russian venture capital firm RTP Global, the bank said in a statement. Turischeva’s record includes jobs at Russia’s search engine Rambler, consumer electronic retail chain M.video and telecommunications company Vimpelcom. Sber… Continue Reading

Sberbank offers support for Serbian exports to Russia

By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has presented opportunities and offered financial support for Serbian consumer goods exports to Russia during an online meeting between a key Russian retail group and Serbian companies. Eight Serbian firms producing fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) presented products to X5 Retail Group during the event, organised by the lender’s… Continue Reading

Guernsey Finance rep to promote Guernsey financial services in S. Africa

Guernsey Finance, a public-private agency for the promotion of Guernsey’s financial services industry, has appointed its first dedicated representative to South Africa, giving the role to Grant McLeod, who has had a long career in the African country’s financial sector. McLeod’s duties will include promoting the Channel island’s financial industry not only in South Africa… Continue Reading

ActivTrades: Pound’s good showing reflects expectations of ‘big economic rebound’ in UK

London-based broker ActivTrades attributes sterling’s current steady winning of ground from the U.S. dollar and euro to generally successful anti-COVID vaccinations in Britain, which have enabled the government to set a roadmap to lifting COVID-related restrictions by June. The scrapping of restrictions is expected to bring about a “big economic rebound”, an outlook that “is… Continue Reading

Russia’s Fix Price retailer reaffirms London, Moscow IPO plan

By Andrei Skvarsky. Fix Price, Russia’s largest discount retailer, has reaffirmed a plan for an initial public offering of shares (IPO) in London and Moscow, having hired BofA Securities, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and VTB Capital as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. The final offer price will be announced when the book building… Continue Reading

ActivTrades analyst: U.S. labour market data likeliest cause of dollar’s Feb 19 drop

The U.S. dollar’s further slide in the morning on February 19 after losses the day before was most likely a reaction to rather bleak statistics on employment in the United States, argues Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at London-based foreign exchange broker ActivTrades. According to Evangelista, the greenback’s February 18 dip was attributable to a Federal… Continue Reading

RenCap: Russian GDP to grow faster than most analysts expect

By Andrei Skvarsky. Investment bank Renaissance Capital predicts economic growth of between 2 and 6 per cent for 2021 for the majority of former Soviet republics and expects Russia to end the year with a gross domestic product increase of 3.8 percent. The Russian percentage is higher than the consensus forecast, RenCap’s economist for Russia… Continue Reading

EVENTS: Opal-organised online forum on Feb 10-11 to explore Covid effects on investment in U.S. pension system

The Public Funds Summit, a virtual conference on February 10-11, will focus on effects of Covid-19 on investment in the U.S. public pension system. The event has an extensive programme with presentations, panel discussions and plenty of time for networking. Please email the summit organiser, New York-based event management company Opal Group, at info@opalgroup.net for a copy… Continue Reading

Russia’s GV Gold boosts gold production by 5% YoY

By Andrei Skvarsky. GV Gold, one of Russia’s top gold mining companies, has reported gold output of 272 kilo ounces (koz) for 2020 or five per cent up on 2019 and announced it expects to produce between 290 and 300 koz in 2021. The statistics are combined figures for the parent company and the subsidiaries,… Continue Reading