Ukraine
Ukrainian oligarch Firtash continues legal battle in Austria despite Vienna's final extradition decision
In June, the Supreme Court of Austria cleared the way for Firtash to be extradited to the US to face corruption charges, but he is allowed to stay in Austria while a court considers a defence motion to re-open the case against him.
COMMENT: Southeast Europe the growth star in CEE banking, but the profit pool is elsewhere
The core message for bankers and investors active in the CEE region should be: close to old records, potential for more but watch out for late cycle phenomena.
Ukraine's natural gas monopoly raises €600mn, $335mn via Eurobonds placement
Naftogaz says it's better able to prepare for the next winter season by accumulating gas in its underground gas storage facilities after raising funds on attractive terms.
Poll shows high hopes ahead of Ukraine’s weekend general election
Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party still riding wave of popularity. Looks set to win by far largest share of vote and possibly outright majority.
Moldova seeks to wipe out cigarette smuggling on eastern border
New government in Chisinau claims cigarette smuggling via the separatist republic of Transnistria was allowed to flourish under the previous administration.
Ukraine's president under fire over plan to expand lustration
Newly elected President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to change the law to extend lustration to officials who held high-level posts following the 2014 Euromaidan, including former president Petro Poroshenko.
COMMENT: Ukraine poised for a new strong start after July’s elections
Ukraine heads to the polls again for parliamentary elections on July 21, and expectations are building of another pro-reform vote to follow Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s landslide victory in the run off of the presidential election in April.
Consumer prices in Ukraine declined 0.5% in June
Prices of food (down 1.1% m/m), clothes and footwear (down 3.0%) and utilities (down 1.4%) dragged the headline figure down in June.
Ukraine’s balance of payments to support the hryvnia, despite growing trade deficit
A positive balance of payments will support the value of Ukraine’s currency, the hryvnia, largely thanks to $5bn worth of remittances sent home by Ukrainians working abroad, despite the swelling trade deficit.
Construction of the Turkish Stream pipeline 90% finished
Last week Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom invited bank analysts on a trip to inspect the construction work of the Turkish Stream (aka TurkStream) pipeline. They report work on the pipeline is on schedule and that it is 90% complete.
Central, Eastern and Southeast European sovereigns to return to debt markets on large scale in 2020, Raiffeisen says
Governments of Central and Southeast Europe have already secured most of the funding they need for this year, but with more obligations maturing in 2020 they are expected to return to the markets on a large scale next year
Rainbow flag flies over CEE, but attitudes to LGBT vary vastly
North Macedonia held its first ever gay pride march on June 29 with up to 1,000 people attending the event. There were pride marches in nearly all the CEE countries but the experience in each country is vastly different.
CEE monthly bond wrap: the number of issues in both CE and EE pick up in June as sentiment improves
The total of $5.3bn from seven issues in June was the most issued in the last four years. Eastern Europe and Russia also had a good month with issues of $5.1bn and $3.2bn respectively.
Cooperation with IMF remains a priority for Ukrainian authorities, Zelenskiy says
Cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a priority for the Ukrainian authorities, the nation's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told IMF first deputy managing director David Lipton in Toronto on July 2.
Ukraine takes “world’s large grain exporter” title from Russia
Russia has been the global grain exporter top dog for the last three years, but as the agricultural marketing year ended on June 30, it looks like Ukraine has snatched the title back from its erstwhile rival.
Ukraine Railway gets a $500mn Eurobond away on second attempt
Ukrainian Railway followed the government into the international debt capital market with a $500mn Eurobond issued to high demand on June 2.
Non-residents share in Ukraine's domestic bond market tops 7% and is still growing
The hook-up of Ukraine’s bond market to the Clearstream international payments and settlements system is turning out to be a stunning success.
Ukraine’s banks continue to make progress and profits, but slowly
In May Ukraine's banking sector’s profit was up again to a cumulative $876mn over the first five months of this year. The sector continues to recover, but slowly.
Ukraine's trade regime remains unbalanced, but other income covers the shortfall
Poland overtook Russia to become Ukraine’s biggest trade partner in May and maintained its lead in April. Ukraine continues to run a sizable trade deficit but thanks to $10bn of remittances a year it has a current account surplus.
Ukraine's top taxpayer Naftogaz earned UAH11.6bn in profits in 2018
Ukraine’s national gas company Naftogaz reported $443mn in profits for 2018, while its tax and dividend payments accounted for 19% of Ukraine’s government income.