By Andrei Skvarsky. A Moscow court has been told there is a conspiracy to murder Dmitry Kratov, the only defendant in the Magnitsky case, said British investment fund Hermitage Capital. Olga Grigorieva, a former head of the medical service for Moscow’s prisons, told the Tverskoi Court that a former prison official had warned her in… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Washington and Beijing
By Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Washington and Beijing. This week has been an important news week, at least for the media, for political developments in the US and China. I would question whether anything has materially changed as a result of the US election and the Chinese leadership handover. The stock markets… Continue Reading
Russia sets up central securities depository
By Andrei Skvarsky. The National Settlement Depository, part of Moscow’s Micex-RTS stock exchange, has been granted the status of Russia’s central securities depository (CSD). “Foreign central depositories will now be able to open nominee accounts with Russia’s CSD,” Micex-RTS said in a statement. Russian state and corporate bonds will have links to international central securities… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: BrokerCreditService hires quant strategist from Gulf Intl Bank
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian brokerage BrokerCreditService (BCS), which has been recruiting intensively over the past few months, has hired Shan Jiang from Gulf International Bank as a quant strategist. Jiang took up his duties at BCS’s London office on Tuesday, Luis Saenz, the London-based head of equity and derivatives sales and trading at the brokerage,… Continue Reading
Troika Dialog name scrapped for good as last unit gets under Sberbank brand
By Andrei Skvarsky. The name Troika Dialog is coming out of use altogether as the brokerage’s asset management arm has changed its name to Sberbank Asset Management (Sberbank AM) effective from November 6. The renaming of Troika Dialog Asset Management is the final act of merger between the 21-year-old Moscow brokerage and Sberbank, according to… Continue Reading
Kazakh oil pipeline aims to raise $199 mln in IPO
Kazakhstan’s oil pipeline monopoly KazTransOil plans to raise 30 billion tenge ($199 million) via an initial public offer (IPO) as part of the Central Asian nation’s “People’s IPO” programme, a senior sovereign wealth fund official said on Friday. The oil-rich country’s government plans to invigorate the small local stock market and raise around $500 million… Continue Reading
RVC SmartFuture: LP Unlimited conference shows relevance of attracting private capital to venture field
The LP Unlimited conference for existing and potential investors in technology startups, Limited Partners and General Partners, held within the framework of the “Open Innovation” forum opened today covered the prospects of attracting private and corporate investment in the capital venture industry. The founder of Medica Venture Partners, Ehud Geller, noted that the state’s involvement… Continue Reading
Nomos banker joins UralSib as top asset manager
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian bank Nomos has parted company with its head of asset management, Yury Belonoschenko, who has been hired by Moscow’s UralSib Financial Corporation for a similar role. Belonoschenko’s UralSib appointment as head of asset management takes effect on November 23, according to a statement from the banking group. His capital markets career,… Continue Reading
SBERBANK CIB COMMENT: Chief economist's view – setting elusive targets
By Evgeny Gavrilenkov, Managing Director, Chief Economist, Sberbank CIB Although inflation remains elevated in Russia, the authorities do not appear to be overly concerned. The Central Bank increased interest rates in September by 25 bps and has repeatedly promised to switch to targeting inflation at some point, but in general the government seems to be… Continue Reading
RenCap hires sales traders for EMEA platform
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has hired two sales traders for its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) platform. Shu-Ming Peng, who arrives from Morgan Stanley, and Aimee Crane, who previously worked at ING and JPMorgan Chase, will be based at the London office of the Moscow investment bank, according to a statement from RenCap.… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: BrokerCreditService makes one more research hire
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian brokerage BrokerCreditService has made yet another addition to its research team by hiring Anna Kurbatova from Gazprombank as senior telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) analyst. Kurbatova will be based in Moscow and took up her BrokerCreditService job on Monday, Luis Saenz, the London-based head of equity and derivatives sales and trading… Continue Reading
Ex-Kremlin think tank predicts political turmoil in Russia
By Andrei Skvarsky. A think tank that used to be a strategic economic planning centre for the Kremlin argues that “growing discontent” with President Vladimir Putin and his government is likely to precipitate mounting nationwide public unrest. The forecast comes in a report released last week by the Centre for Strategic Research (CSR), a Moscow-based… Continue Reading
Sberbank CIB lends $1bn to Belarus fertilizer producer
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank CIB, the newly set-up corporate and investment arm of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has extended a three-year $1bn loan to Belarussian potash fertilizer producer Belaruskali. The purpose of the loan is to enable Belaruskali to refinance a one-year $1bn syndicated bridge loan received by it from Sberbank and Eurasian Development Bank… Continue Reading
European Parliament urges visa ban, asset freeze for Magnitsky’s alleged killers
By Andrei Skvarsky. The European Parliament on Tuesday passed a non-binding resolution calling for tough European Union-wide sanctions against Russian officials blamed for the allegedly unlawful arrest of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for British investment fund Hermitage Capital, and his death in custody in 2009. The resolution recommends that the EU Council, effectively the Union’s top… Continue Reading
VTB Capital hires ex-Royal Bank of Scotland researcher as chief economist for MEA
By Andrei Skvarsky. VTB Capital has hired Raza Agha from Royal Bank of Scotland as chief economist for the Middle East and Africa. Agha will be based in London, according to a statement from the Moscow-headquartered brokerage arm of Russia’s VTB Group. He had worked at the World Bank, the Netherlands’ ABN AMRO, the Pakistani… Continue Reading
Sberbank, Gazprombank, ING, UniCredit extend syndicated loan to Ukraine firm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Sberbank CIB and Gazprombank, the Netherlands’ ING Bank and Italy’s UniCredit have provided a syndicated credit line to a total of 416m for DTEK, Ukraine’s largest energy company. Sberbank is represented in the deal by Sberbank CIB, a former division of Troika Dialog that has become a corporate and investment unit of… Continue Reading
Sberbank strikes loan deal with Russian railways monopoly
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank CIB, a unit of Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank and a former division of Moscow brokerage Troika Dialog, has opened short-term credit lines to a total of 50bn rubles ($1.62bn) for Russian railways monopoly RZD. The loan aims to “allow [RZD] to alleviate its short-term financing needs with the goal of more… Continue Reading
Geneva’s Lombard Odier says eurozone breakup inevitable
By Andrei Skvarsky. Geneva-based Lombard Odier, one of Europe’s largest private banking firms, predicts that the euro will survive as a currency, albeit significantly restructured, but that the eurozone will inevitably part company with some of its constituent countries. The currency needs restructuring if it is to survive, according to Paul Marson, a top Lombard… Continue Reading
Horizon Capital and FMO Invest into Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Company Biofarma
Horizon Capital, regional private equity fund manager, and FMO, the Dutch development bank, announced today their acquisition of a stake in Biofarma, a leading Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturer. The capital will be used to construct a modern plant in Kyiv region. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Biofarma is a top 10 Ukrainian… Continue Reading
Russia and commodity prices in the new IMF report
By Dieter Wermuth, Chief Economist, Wermuth Asset Management According to the International Monetary Fund, Russia’s real GDP will expand by 3.7 % y/y in 2012, and by 3.8% next year. Growth continues to be revised down in response to the slowdown of world output. It seems that the new medium term growth rate is in… Continue Reading
Russian PE support fund buys $50m chunk of medical firm
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a sovereign co-investment institution tasked with supporting private equity projects in Russia, has invested $50m in health care firm MD Medical Group (MDMG) during the latter’s recent initial public offering of shares in London. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager and Russian private equity fund Siguler Guff’s Russia Partners… Continue Reading
Bank of Georgia’s investment case marred by political uncertainty – RenCap
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital analysts warn that investing in Bank of Georgia, until now one of the best-performing banks within the boundaries of the former Soviet Union, poses some risks today due to post-election political uncertainty in its home country. Georgian Dream, a coalition that beat the ruling United National Movement (UNM) in Georgia’s parliamentary… Continue Reading
Aton appoints private banking head for northwestern Russia
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow brokerage Aton has appointed Oleg Puntusov, a former Troika Dialog banker, as head of its private banking business in northwestern Russia. Puntusov, who began his stock market career in 1998, worked at Troika offices in the Russian cities of Samara and Togliatti and later headed Troika’s branches in Nizhny Novgorod and… Continue Reading
RenCap carries out reshuffle to beef up equity products group
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has carried through an internal reshuffle to improve cross-regional coordination in its equity products group by making senior appointments in New York, London, Russia and South Africa. Rupert Hope and Florian Hellmich were promoted to global co-heads of distribution in New York and London respectively. They will oversee operations in… Continue Reading
UBS puts ex-Credit Suisse banker in charge of Russia business
By Andrei Skvarsky. UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, has hired Anush Simonian from rival Swiss lender Credit Suisse as its investment banking chief in Russia. Simonian replaces Antanas Petrosius, who remains deputy head for Russia and who also comes from Credit Suisse, having joined UBS in June last year. He will focus on key clients, according… Continue Reading
VTB Capital CEE's debt capital market leader – Dealogic
By Andrei Skvarsky. VTB Capital holds the top position in terms of debt capital deals volume in Central and Eastern Europe in a league table for 2012 compiled by Dealogic, a global financial consultancy and information provider. The brokerage arm of Russia’s VTB Group was also the number one organiser of Eurobond issues in Russia and… Continue Reading
Moscow’s Aton hires ex-govt official to run Yekaterinburg unit
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow-based brokerage Aton has hired Viktor Dolzhenko, until then a senior regional government officer for investment, as head of its branch in Yekaterinburg. Before his two-year tenure as deputy minister for investment and development of the Sverdlovsk region, Dolzhenko headed Troika Dialog’s office in Yekaterinburg, the administrative centre of the region, which… Continue Reading
RenCap “most innovative bank” in CEE – The Banker
Renaissance Capital has been declared this year’s “most innovative bank” in Central and Eastern Europe by The Banker, a Financial Times group monthly and a leading source of global financial information. RenCap’s rivals on the award shortlist were VTB Capital and Troika Dialog, which has been renamed Sberbank CIB with the exception of its asset… Continue Reading
Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan organise London IPO for Russian health care firm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan have organised what will be the first IPO of a Russian healthcare firm on the London Stock Exchange. MD Medical Group Investments Plc, a leading provider of private health care for women and children, expects to raise between $295m and $343m via its IPO of global depositary… Continue Reading