By Andrei Skvarsky. A Russian private investor has bought two comparatively small power stations in Russia to convert them into facilities for crypto-currency mining. Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
Russian finance minister beats colleagues by earning $1.42m for 2016 – declaration
By Andrei Skvarsky. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov declared total earnings of 95.44m roubles for 2016 ($1.42m at that year’s average market exchange rate), by far outdoing the other members of the Russian government who had their incomes for 2016 reported on the Finance Ministry website late last month. Continue Reading
Belarus legalises laissez-faire use of crypto-currencies as of March 2018
By Andrei Skvarsky. In an unexpectedly liberal move, the president of Belarus, a country with a state-controlled and largely Soviet-style economy, has issued a decree to give practically unlimited freedom for crypto-currency mining and transactions. Continue Reading
Russian Aquaculture raises $17m via SPO co-run by Gazprombank, Otkritie
By Andrei Skvarsky. One of Russia’s main producers of farm-grown salmon and trout, Russian Aquaculture, has announced it has raised more than 1bn roubles ($17m) through a recent second public offering (SPO) co-run by two Russian banks, Gazprombank and Otkritie. Continue Reading
Cryptocurrency-focused firm Brickblock plans world’s first sale of tokenised real estate
By Andrei Skvarsky. Brickblock, a company building a blockchain-based trading platform for connecting cryptocurrencies with real-world assets, is due to put the world’s first tokenised real estate item – an apartment block in Berlin – on sale this month. Continue Reading
How healthy are your investments?
When is the last time you assessed the financial health of your investments? You should, typically, assess your investments annually. All investments, even the medium to long-term investments, will benefit from annual assessments. They allow one to get a better picture of the investment performance and let you review your choices. Be careful though, frequent… Continue Reading
Russian Aquaculture sets SPO for Dec 11, aims to raise $34m
By Andrei Skvarsky. Fish-farming company Russian Aquaculture, one of Russia’s main producers of salmon and trout, has scheduled a secondary public offering (SPO) of shares for December 11. Continue Reading
Crypto start-up trade.io plans ICO, aims to raise $135m
By Andrei Skvarsky. Cryptocurrency start-up trade.io, which is based in Zug, Switzerland, aims to raise $135m in a current round of funding, with the bulk of the sum to come via a planned initial coil offering (ICO) between December 5 and December 15. Continue Reading
Gazprombank, Otkritie to manage Russian Aquaculture’s SPO
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian lenders Gazprombank and Otkritie Bank will be the joint global coordinators and bookrunners for a secondary public offering of shares (SPO) to be launched by Russian Aquaculture, a leading Russian salmon and trout farmer. Continue Reading
Sberbank’s Indian branch gets highest rating from Fitch’s Indian subsidiary
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Indian subsidiary of Fitch Ratings has assigned its highest credit rating to a 1bn-rupee ($15.5m) certificate-of-deposit programme to be launched by the Indian branch of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – October 2017 Newsletter
AFC Funds Performance Summary Major equity markets rallied this past month and frontier markets generally fared well as the MSCI Frontier Markets Net Total Return USD Index gained +1.2% this month and is now up +26.4% YTD, while the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Net Total Return USD added +5.2% this month and is up +20.4%… Continue Reading
Russian watchdog blocks access to 13 cryptocurrency-focused websites
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s communications watchdog has blocked access to 13 cryptocurrency trading or information websites, citing court rulings. Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: Moscow office of Egypt’s Banque Misr to help Russian, Egyptian firms – chairman
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian companies seeking to do business in Middle Eastern countries and Egyptian firms wishing to work in Russia will receive “extremely extensive” financial support from Banque Misr, a top Egyptian lender that has just opened a representative office in Moscow, the bank’s chairman has said. Continue Reading
Brickblock aims to raise $50m via ICO, plans apartment block sale for digital money
By Andrei Skvarsky. Brickblock, a Berlin-based firm building the first-ever platform to connect cryptocurrencies with real-world assets, aims to raise $50m in an initial coin offering (ICO) – a standard fundraising method used by cryptocurrency ventures – that is due to launch on October 31. Continue Reading
Sberbank joins Enterprise Ethereum Alliance
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has become the country’s first bank to join the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), a nonprofit whose purpose is to coordinate the engineering of an open-source reference standard and a version of the Ethereum trading blockchain that can address the common interests of firms in a wide range of… Continue Reading
Russian “crypto roubles” to have little in common with bitcoin
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia will soon launch its own cryptocurrency, the “crypto rouble”, the communications minister has said, citing a decision by President Vladimir Putin. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – September 2017 Newsletter
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” – Aristotle AFC Funds Performance Summary Frontier markets performed well last month as the MSCI Frontier Markets Net Total Return USD Index gained +2.0% and the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Net Total Return USD added +3.8%. At the same time, the MSCI World Index Net Total Return USD… Continue Reading
GUEST POST: Warning – danger lurks here
By Capitalist Exploits. Take a look at the volume of stocks listed vs. indexes listed going all the way back to the days of bellbottoms, loud hair, and orange wallpaper. Since 1995, the supply of stocks, particularly in the US, has been shrinking faster than Trump’s approval ratings. At the same time, the number of indexes… Continue Reading
Russian Duma to commission study on cryptocurrencies
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s lower house of parliament has announced competitive tendering for a study on cryptocurrencies that would underlie future legislation on digital money. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – August 2017 Newsletter
AFC Funds Performance Summary Major equity markets were mixed this past month while frontier markets generally fared well as the MSCI Frontier Markets Net Total Return USD Index gained +3.7% this month and is now up +22.4% YTD, while the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Net Total Return USD added +1.9% this month and is up… Continue Reading
FXPrimus launches trade in 5 cryptocurrencies
Online broker FXPrimus has launched trade in five cryptocurrencies – bitcoin, ethereum, Ripple, litecoin and Dash. Continue Reading
Bayut: Property investment in Dubai, Abu Dhabi profitable though rents, prices slide
By Andrei Skvarsky. UAE property portal Bayut.com says the real estate markets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi still showed a “consistently stable” return on investment (ROI), 4.9 per cent on average, in the first half of 2017 despite an overall, albeit minor, decline in rents and prices in both cities. Continue Reading
Russia’s ITI Group Buys Out UK’s Walbrook Capital Markets
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian financial services company ITI Group has bought out Walbrook Capital Markets, a London-based multi-asset brokerage that provides access to a range of electronic trading platforms and telephone services. Continue Reading
Two firms setting up $200m fund to help money-starved Russian fintechs
By Andrei Skvarsky. Two financial services firms are launching a $200m fund to provide loans to Russian fintech companies in a bid to help a sector starved of financing because of legal constraints. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – July 2017 Newsletter
“I think you have to learn that there’s a company behind every stock and there’s only one real reason why stocks go up. Companies go from doing poorly to doing well or small companies grow to large companies.” – Peter Lynch AFC Funds Performance Summary Most major equity markets in the world performed well this past… Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) – June 2017 Newsletter
AFC Funds Performance Summary Rallies in frontier markets and emerging markets continued in June 2017 as the MSCI Frontier Markets Asia Net Total Return USD Index added +3.1%, while the global MSCI Frontier Markets Net Total Return USD Index returned +0.6% and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index Net Total Return Index rallied +1.0%. Worldwide, developed… Continue Reading
CEIC: Europe’s ex-communist nations record strong growth for Q1
By Andrei Skvarsky. The former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe showed impressive economic growth in the first quarter of 2017 with an average gross domestic product increase of 3.5 per cent, according to New York-based data provider CEIC. Continue Reading
Sberbank joins syndicated mezzanine loan for O1 Group investment firm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has bought an $80m stake in a syndicated mezzanine loan extended to Russian company O1 Group, one of the biggest owners of Russian non-state pension funds and a manager of commercial real estate. Continue Reading
Sberbank to stay out of Crimea, CEO reiterates
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank’s chief executive recently again excluded the possibility of Russia’s biggest lender establishing any presence in Crimea in the foreseeable future. Continue Reading