By Andrei Skvarsky. There is “an abundance of affordable luxury real estate on offer”, says Paul Philipp Hermann, co-founder and managing director of global online real estate trader Lamudi. Continue Reading
MNI Indicators: Russian companies a bit happier but loans harder to get
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian companies were slightly more upbeat about the overall business environment in their country in August than they had been in July despite the plunge in oil prices in recent months, according to surveys by Deutsche Boerse-owned intelligence company MNI Indicators. Continue Reading
Sberbank, Uber ride-hailing app consider co-designing payment technology
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, and ride-hailing app service Uber have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore ways of co-developing payment technology. Continue Reading
Sberbank, Sakhalin govt sign deal on online fish sales
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, and the government of the country’s Sakhalin island have signed a deal to set up a fish exchange for declared purposes such as replacement of nearly all fish imports in the Russian market with Russian-caught fish. Continue Reading
Lamudi: Emerging markets a world of ‘financial centres of tomorrow’
By Andrei Skvarsky. Investors shouldn’t neglect financial centres in emerging markets, some of which, though little known, have excellent prospects, according to online real estate dealer Lamudi, which does business in 34 emerging- and frontier-market countries. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange’s RTS Index marks 20th birthday
The RTS Index, one of Moscow Exchange’s two main stock market benchmarks, celebrates its 20th birthday on September 1. Continue Reading
Antal Russia: Russia-based expats having financial problems
By Andrei Skvarsky. Western expats have been leaving Russia in droves since the Ukrainian crisis erupted and economic woes began to beset the country, and a survey by a headhunter suggests that those who stay are on the whole less than affluent. Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: B2B firm Uppler doing business in 150 countries a year after birth
By Andrei Skvarsky. Business-to-business (B2B) deals are a fast-growing market, and B2B company Uppler, set up by three young Frenchmen in Tel Aviv a year ago has been able to extend its multi-industry business to more than 150 countries. The entire personnel of the dot-com firm are about a dozen people one of whom works… Continue Reading
GUEST ARTICLE: How to find a reliable real estate agency in Dubai
The article has been contributed by Dubai-based real estate portal Bayut.com. Dubai’s lucrative real estate market is a haven for thousands of real estate agents who are aiming to help customers make a worthwhile investment, while saving a “slice of the cake” for themselves. Continue Reading
Lamudi property firm advises investors to go to emerging world megacities
By Andrei Skvarsky. Online real estate dealer Lamudi says that, unlike their overpopulated counterparts in the industrialised world, megacities in emerging market countries are still on the rise and offer a gamut of opportunities for investment and other business activities. Continue Reading
Dubai’s Morison Menon audit firm wins Superbrand status for 2nd year running
By Andrei Skvarsky. Dubai-based audit firm and business consultancy Morison Menon has for the second consecutive year been named as a top brand by a highly reputed international branding arbitration group. Continue Reading
Asia Frontier Capital Newsletter – Country Snapshot: Iran
In July 2015, the AFC Asia Frontier Fund gained +1.1%, underperforming the MSCI Frontier Asia Index (+4.3%) and the MSCI World Index (+1.7%) and outperforming the MSCI Frontier Index (-3.1%). The year to date performance of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund A-shares stands now at +2.1% versus the MSCI Frontier Asia Index which is up… Continue Reading
Consumer sentiment in Russia falls again – Deutsche Boerse intel arm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sentiment among Russian consumers fell sharply in July after an apparent tentative upward trend during in the previous couple of months, according to the findings of monthly surveys by a Deutsche Boerse intelligence subsidiary. Continue Reading
Lamudi real estate dot-com firm launches business in UAE
By Andrei Skvarsky. Lamudi, a two-year-old real estate dot-com company doing business in more than 30 emerging- and frontier-market countries, announced on August 10 that it has launched an operation in the United Arab Emirates. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange reports net profit rise of 72.8%
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange said that its earnings boomed in the second quarter of 2015, and that this included a year-on-year net profit increase of 72.8%. Continue Reading
News release from Canrim Development
Canrim Development Pte Ltd. is a resource development company established by a team with a successful Mongolian business track record, operating in the Mongolian resources sector since 1997. Designed as a vehicle to re-enter the Mongolian resource industry in early 2014, Canrim is positioning for resurgence in minerals exploration activity in the country. In mineral… Continue Reading
Sberbank, Tinkoff among 1st-round winners of Global Finance digital banking contest
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank and online retail bank Tinkoff were among the first-round winners in the 2015 World’s Best Digital Banks competition held annually by Global Finance, the famous New York-based monthly. Continue Reading
Standard Chartered’s Pakistan subsidiary gets over first hurdle in Islamic banks contest
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Pakistani subsidiary of Britain’s Standard Chartered was among the winners of the first round of Global Finance’s debut contest for Islamic banks as part of the famous financial periodical’s annual competition for the title of the world’s best digital bank. Continue Reading
Russia’s RenCap hires James Friel from Rothschild to run global investment banking
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital, a key Russian privately-owned investment bank, has hired James Friel from global financial consultancy Rothschild as global head of investment banking with effect from September. Continue Reading
RenCap expects Russian inflation to slow, Kazakh money to plunge
Renaissance Capital, a Russian top-tier privately-owned investment bank, has forecast that inflation will decline in Russia but will rise in Georgia and Kazakhstan in the near term, and that the Kazakh currency will plunge by nearly one third by the end of September. Continue Reading
Baring Vostok lead investor in $40m funding for Russian car broker
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Baring Vostok private equity firm was the biggest investor in a recent new round of funding for CarPrice in which $40m was raised for the Russian online used-car broker. Continue Reading
New Russian fund to invest $2m in B2B solutions in 2015
By Andrei Skvarsky. Two Russian entrepreneurs have launched a venture fund that plans to invest $2m before the end of 2015 in up to five projects to develop solutions for business-to-business (B2B) transactions, according to international information company East-West Digital News (EWDN). Continue Reading
Russian central bank cuts key rate to 11%, says economy may cool off
Russia’s central bank on July 31 cut its key interest rate to 11% from 11.5%, arguing that economic cooling is a greater risk than inflation. Continue Reading
Lamudi property portal: Emerging markets should be top of investors' agenda
By Andrei Skvarsky. Emerging market countries are growing much faster than developed ones, they have been quicker to adopt new high technology than their developed counterparts, and their populations include increasingly affluent and rapidly growing middle classes, real estate portal Lamudi says. Continue Reading
Bayut.com: UAE real estate market’s performance better than expected
By Andrei Skvarsky. The United Arab Emirates’ real estate sector did quite well in the first half of 2015 and, in fact, “exceeded all expectations”, the Bayut.com property portal says. Continue Reading
MNI Indicators: Business sentiment in Russia edges down
By Andrei Skvarsky. A survey by Deutsche Boerse-owned research company MNI Indicators suggests that overall sentiment among Russian businesses was slightly lower in July than in June and their near-term economic outlook had declined significantly but that, just as previous surveys indicated, optimists outnumbered pessimists. Continue Reading
Sberbank reports management reshuffle for digital services
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has discharged Viktor Orlovsky of his duties as senior vice president overseeing the bank’s digital business and appointed him as head of SBT Venture Fund I, a vehicle for investment in startups developing technologies for the financial sector. Continue Reading
Bank of Cyprus selling subsidiary Uniastrum to cut exposure to Russia
Bank of Cyprus said on July 17 that it had signed an agreement to sell off its Russian subsidiary Uniastrum Bank as part of a plan to reduce the biggest Cypriot lender’s exposure to Russia. Continue Reading
RenCap hires Lugo from Sberbank as US head of FICC sales
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has hired Victor Lugo from Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, to oversee fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) sales at RenCap Securities, the US subsidiary of the Moscow-based frontier and emerging markets-focused investment bank. Continue Reading