By Andrei Skvarsky. One of the European Parliament’s political groups has pressed the European Commission to go ahead with sanctions against alleged Russian persecutors and killers of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky that the EU legislature recommended in October and December. {{{*}}} In an address to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the Alliance of… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Russia
Moldova seventh country to join in probes set off by Magnitsky accusations
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moldova has become the seventh country to try to track down the $230m stolen from the Russian state by senior Russian officials in an alleged tax scam uncovered by Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. {{{*}}} Hermitage claims it has obtained documents indicating that in 2008 a $53m chunk of the money was… Continue Reading
RenCap hosting one-to-one pan-Africa investor conference
Moscow’s Renaissance Capital, seeing Africa as “a golden opportuunity for investors”, is hosting a three-day annual one-to-one pan-Africa investor conference in Lagos which opened on February 11. {{{*}}} “Against the current backdrop of global market instability, Africa remains a source of tremendous growth and opportunity”, RenCap said in a statement. The current fourth Pan-Africa Investor… Continue Reading
RenCap hires traders from Alfa-Bank, Aton
Russia’s Renaissance Capital has announced it has hired Dmitry Ryzhkov from Alfa-Bank as vice president and equity sales trader for Russia and the CIS and Yury Nefedov from Aton as associate and fixed income currencies and commodities (FICC) trader. {{{*}}} Ryzhkov worked as an equity sales trader at UniCredit Aton from 2006 to 2008 before… Continue Reading
VTB Capital sells bond worth $169.5m in Turkey
VTB Capital has sold a two-year bond in Turkey to a total of 300m Turkish lira ($169.5m). {{{*}}} Garanti Bank, one of Turkey’s biggest private lenders, organised the placement of the bond on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. The bond, sold to qualified investors, had a semi-annual coupon of 3.89%, the investment arm of Russia’s VTB… Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange hires former LSE exec to run intl sales
The Moscow Exchange has hired Tom O’Brien from TMX Group, the firm operating the Toronto Stock Exchange, as head of international sales. {{{*}}} O’Brien will be based in London and starts his new job in April, the Moscow bourse said in a statement. He has spent 17 years at the London Stock Exchange in various roles… Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange gives CIS banks free access to currency market
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Moscow Exchange has given unrestricted access to its currency market to banks domiciled in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. {{{*}}} Banks in the four countries, which, together with Russia, are building a so-called Eurasian Economic Community, no longer need a Russian currency trade licence for access to the Moscow bourse’s currency… Continue Reading
Sberbank says Russia’s economic growth driven by consumer sectors
{{{?}}} By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has released an extensive body of research arguing that Russia’s economic growth is driven by consumer-related sectors and not by oil and gas, and that those sectors offer vast opportunities to investors. While extractive industries account for two-thirds of Russia’s stock market, and oil and gas dominate the country’s exports,… Continue Reading
Russia is leading growth in venture-capital funds raised
Russia has seen a venture investing boom in its high technology in the past six years, {{{*}}} The Wall Street Journal reports citing findings by Dow Jones VentureSource. As a result, the Russian venture capital sector now ranks Europe’s fourth largest investor in its own high technology industries, according to Dow. Reporting the latest Dow findings, The… Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange announces indicative IPO price range, dividend levels
{{{?}}} The Moscow Exchange has announced an indicative per-share price range of between 55 and 63 rubles ($1.8 and $2) for its planned initial public offering. Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the IPO, to be carried out on the bourse’s own platform. Deutsche… Continue Reading
SBERBANK the world’s 13th most valuable brand – Brand Finance
By Andrei Skvarsky. {{{?}}} Sberbank’s brand value has earned Russia’s biggest lender 13th place in this year’s Top 500 Banking Brands ranking compiled by Brand Finance, a London-based brand valuation consultancy. The 500-name league table values Sberbank’s brand at $14.16bn compared with the valuation of $10.77bn on the 2012 list, where the Moscow-based firm was… Continue Reading
Sberbank bankers moving to Swiss firm to look after Russian HNWIs
{{{?}}} Sberbank is parting company with equity trader Rufat Askerov and equity salesperson Alexei Dolgikh, who have been hired by Swiss private banking group Julius Baer to work with Russian high net worth individuals. Askerov, Dolgikh and former Alfa-Bank executive Alexander Muratov, who has been running his own business in London since 2008, will be… Continue Reading
Otkritie hires man from Moscow Exchange top brass as DMA chief
{{{?}}} Moscow’s Otkritie brokerage has hired Sergey Sinkevich from the Moscow Exchange as head of direct market access (DMA). Before his new job at the brokerage’s Otkritie Capital division, Sinkevich headed the primary market department at the Moscow Exchange. Previously he spent nearly a decade at the Russian office of GE Money, a banking arm… Continue Reading
Jones Lang LaSalle appointed Natalia Tischendorf as Head of Corporate Finance for Russia & CIS
{{{?:0}}} Jones Lang LaSalle promoted Natalia Tischendorf to Head of Corporate Finance for Russia & CIS. Natalia joined Jones Lang LaSalle seven years ago and has been working as a National Director in the Capital Markets department. In her new role Natalia will be focusing on helping local and international companies with raising equity and… Continue Reading
Tatarstan’s Innopolis to receive $670 million in investments
{{{?:0}}} The Republic of Tatarstan is confirming its commitment to innovation with plans to invest heavily over the next two years in the engineering and transport infrastructure of Innopolis, an “innovation city” under completion near the capital Kazan. Tatarstan will put up a significant part of the total investment, which has been estimated at 20… Continue Reading
Russia's MDM parts company with deputy CEO
{{{?:0}}} MDM Bank, one of Russia’s largest private lenders, has parted company with its deputy chief executive Nikita Riauzov. Riauzov is going to take a few weeks to choose a new job, according to the Finparty.ru website. He was head of corporate and investment banking at MDM for nearly eight years before being promoted to… Continue Reading
Runa Capital leads $4.7M series A round for Israeli mobile solutions company Cellrox
{{{?:0}}} Cellrox, an Israeli start-up in the mobile services domain, has bagged a USD 4.7 mln round of funding during its Series A round. Led by Runa Capital, the company’s existing investors are also participating in the round. They include Columbia Technology Ventures and Previz Venture Partners, among others. The funding will be used to… Continue Reading
Portfolio Analyst – Financial Services Company – Moscow
{{{?}}} International Financial Services company is looking for Portfolio Analysts to join their team in Moscow. Successful candidate will be responsible for valuation of loan portfolios, forecasting of key indicators, monitoring of existing and development of new strategies working with NPLs, monitoring of existing loan portfolios and their management with the aim to increase recovery… Continue Reading
Hermitage says Estonian banks involved in Magnitsky affair
{{{?:0}}} By Andrei Skvarsky. Hermitage Capital said, citing an Estonian prosecutor, that a $10m chunk of the $230m that Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky accused Russian officials of stealing from the state passed through Estonian banks in being transferred from Russia. Ten Estonian firms were involved in the alleged transfers, prosecutor Piret Paukstys said, according to… Continue Reading
WEAFER COMMENT: Fund Flows Monitor – EM surge continues, Russia lags
{{{?:0}}} By Chris Weafer, Chief Strategist, Ovanes Oganisyan, Strategist, and Iskander Abdullaev, Quant Analyst, Sberbank Investment Research Investors added another $5.8 bln to EM retail funds in the week ended Wednesday to bring the total invested YTD to $16.6 bln. Russia funds reported a net outflow of $64 mln for the past week, which brings… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: Sberbank hires UniCredit banker to run equity options trading
Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has hired Bill Beller from UniCredit as head of equity options trading in its investment arm Sberbank CIB. Beller takes up his Moscow-based job on February 1, Sberbank said in a statement. During his work at UniCredit, Beller headed an equity derivatives flow trading team that worked with institutional clients in… Continue Reading
Micex-RTS to sell part of its stock via IPO
{{{?:0}}} Moscow’s Micex-RTS stock exchange is planning to put some of its own stock on sale through an initial public offering on its Micex trading platform, with Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital acting as joint global coordinators. The four banks will also be bookrunners for the IPO, a role in which they… Continue Reading
VTB Capital appoints Marco Huber as Head of CEEMEA DCM
{{{?:0}}} Earlier this month Russian VTB Capital appointed Marco Huber as Head of DCM in CEEMEA Region (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa). Huber has over 10 years’ experience having participated in the implementation of a number of large DCM deals across EEMEA reagion. He was previously Director, EEMEA DCM at Credit Suisse… Continue Reading
Swiss PE firm to invest €100 mln in Russian e-commerce
{{{?:0}}} Pluribus Optimum, a Swiss PE firm, has earmarked EUR 100 mln for investments in Russia and CIS countries over the next three years. The funds will target e-commerce platforms to improve certain operational aspects such as order processing, document handling, billing and payment acceptance. They will also be targeting the third-party logistics market, popularly… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: BrokerCreditService makes two high-tier hires
{{{?:0}}} By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian brokerage BrokerCreditService (BCS) has made two senior hires for its London office, bringing in John Barker from global electronic broker Liquidnet as non-executive director and Audrey Faveeuw from the London Stock Exchange as director of international prime brokerage sales. Barker oversaw Liquidnet’s pan-European business during his 11 years at Liquidnet,… Continue Reading
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will invest $40 million to support SMEs in Russia's provinces
{{{?:0}}} The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, approved up to $40 million in financing for a private equity investment fund that will support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Russia’s outer provinces, where private equity has been largely unavailable. Fast-growing SMEs with strong market… Continue Reading
Czech company invests in Russian online ticketing service
{{{?:0}}} Popular Russian online ticketing service Travelata.ru has received a financial boost from Czech investment company Invia. The latter is backed by Polish VC fund MCI Management, and is already a leader in the online travel bookings market in the CEE region. Though Travelata competes globally with giants like Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline, the Russian… Continue Reading
Runa Capital Co-Founder Announces $100 Mln Quantum Technology Fund
{{{?:0}}} A new venture fund dedicated to supporting companies that use quantum technology and materials, called the Quantum Wave Fund (QWave), will be launched shortly with around USD 100 mln under management. The investors include Russians Sergei Beloussov, Sergei Kouzmine and other prominent investors and scientists. The fund will target companies working with data networks,… Continue Reading
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Savatyugin steps down
{{{?:0}}} Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Savatyugin, who oversees the financial markets, banking and the insurance sector, is resigning with effect from January 9. The 42-year-old official, whose departure from the ministry had been rumoured since summer 2012, is one of nine deputy finance ministers. He has held the job since 2010, when then finance… Continue Reading