Emerging Europe

After a lifetime in Vienna, Peter Bosek has moved 1,600 kilometres north to head up Blackstone’s banking operation in the Baltics. He talks to Euromoney about life in Tallinn, how to take advantage of millennials’ new-found enthusiasm for investment and what banks can learn from Netflix.

Zafer Sönmez was well underway with a long-term plan to model Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund on Singapore’s Temasek and Malaysia’s Khazanah – his former employer – when he was unexpectedly removed from his role in March. Before going, he gave Euromoney a detailed interview on the challenges involved in building a wealth fund in a country that is not blessed with oil wealth, plentiful foreign exchange reserves or even budget surpluses. Those challenges will remain after his departure.

Polish companies have been behind the curve when it comes to sustainability. A reinvigorated Warsaw Stock Exchange plans to bring them up to speed.

Strong fundamentals, generous Covid support and timely digital banking regulation mean that Hungary’s banks are in good shape for 2021.

Emerging markets have regained some of the buoyancy lost during the early months of the coronavirus crisis, but analyst opinions hint at the difficulty of identifying which EM currencies investors should favour.

Critics question whether the bloc’s taxonomy will work for emerging Europe.

The saga of Poland’s Idea Bank has finally been resolved with a forced takeover by number two player Pekao. But questions remain over the role of the state.

Russia’s big state bank wants to be the leading player in the country’s fast-growing e-commerce sector. It could succeed.

The battle for control of Petropavlovsk has been raging since the board and management were unexpectedly voted out at the AGM in June. But only now has it become clear the role a conversion of bonds may have played. At issue are allegations of unequal bondholder treatment.

Every bank wants to rebrand as a tech player, but few are aiming as high as Sberbank.

Turkey has been the outlier in CEE this year for many reasons.

Emerging Europe’s dormant primary equity market springs back to life. Can the revival continue into 2021?

Turkey’s FX strategy might look odd but, despite the damage it is wreaking on the lira, analysts doubt that the country’s economic policies will change.

The BRICS economies, which between them represent 40% of the world population and 32% of its GDP, are a powerful force for the private banking industry as their economic engines drive wealth creation. But they are all distinct markets with their own unique opportunities and challenges.

A bank with a profitable core business is a better bet than one designed to lose money.

While banks have made progress on integrating environmental considerations into areas such as project finance and corporate lending, investment bankers have so far faced few – if any – sustainability-related restrictions on their activities.

A backdrop of buoyant economic growth, falling unemployment and rising consumer confidence gave Serbia’s banks a welcome boost last year.

Investors should stop pretending to care about ESG risks.

A new law prohibiting the return of banks to their former owners will unlock international funding for Ukraine. But is it really the game changer some are claiming?

Tinkoff Bank’s virtual assistant is good for eating out, but not food for thought.

Leading firms in emerging Europe welcome a surge in interest in digital payments products and online lending.

Co-founder Sergey Khotimskiy says the coronavirus crisis could help Russia’s private-sector banks fight back against state dominance.

It’s hard to blame anyone for looking for bright spots in these difficult times.

Economies and banking sectors in emerging Europe have gone into the coronavirus crisis in good shape. But will they be able to navigate the political fallout from the expected downturn?

Fast-track financing, infrastructure support and equity investment opportunities: first vice-president Jürgen Rigterink details the development bank’s Covid-19 crisis response – and delivers a warning to banks in its region.

Bernhard Spalt talks to Euromoney about banks’ responsibility to lend, the risk of a ‘blame game’ and the prospects for a return to business as usual in emerging Europe.

With consumers and businesses demanding instant access to Covid-19 support financing, the RBI chief executive warns of a backlash against banks.

Central banks in emerging Europe have started buying local government bonds in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Has quantitative easing arrived in the region? And, if so, will it work?

Loan growth can return to double digits in second half of 2020, says deputy chief executive.

Recruited to set up a national payments system, the central bank’s Olga Skorobogatova has overseen initiatives to protect consumers and promote competition in Russia’s banking sector. In her first interview with international media, she talks sandboxes, blockchain and the challenges of regulating bank ecosystems.