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It’s a testament to investors’ thirst for exposure to credits linked to the Russian sovereign that their favourite borrower in central and eastern Europe, according to Euromoney’s best borrower survey, is a state-owned company that barely needs to issue debt. Gas firm Gazprom last tapped the international capital markets in November when it sold a $1 billion, five-year bond that carried a coupon of 5.092%. There was little to get excited about in the structure of the deal. What did stand out was the timing, which reinforced Gazprom’s strong standing in the market.
The Russian company was the only borrower in emerging Europe, the Middle East and Africa to sell bonds in the week when Ireland’s sovereign debt crisis took a firm grip on capital markets activity.