Emerging Europe

If the government could point to a vision for what the privatization process is looking to achieve, it would point to Enerjisa.

Turkey has ambitious plans for 2010 and 2011. As it seeks to finance a yawning budget deficit, everything is for sale. Lack of finance, legal challenges and a febrile political situation present hurdles but the government is determined to get deals done. Nick Lord reports from Istanbul.

Turkey: Prime time for privatization

After a hotly contested process involving more than 20 investment banks the authorities in Moscow have mandated Barclays Capital, Citi, Credit Suisse and VTB Capital to lead manage Russia’s return to the international bond markets after an absence of more than a decade.

Pre-emptive issuance proves smart strategy; Improving economic fundamentals attract strong investor bid

State sales enjoy positive reception; No investor fatigue despite heavy issuance

Volume figures released during February confirm further increases in FX flow.

First venture capital fund since crisis; Enhanced access to capital for SMEs

If it is not the worsening economy in the USA, it is the Greeks creating mayhem in the Euro zone. Rescue will come, but time to batten down hatches!

Polish beverages producer taps taste for CEE sub investment-grade paper.

The International Finance Corporation has launched the first restructuring fund aimed at central and eastern Europe following the economic crisis. The private-sector arm of the World Bank has teamed up with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and CRG Capital, a distressed asset specialist, and plans to raise €200 million. The three partners have committed a total of €36 million and hope to bring on board another leading investor within the next couple of months.

After last year’s gas war with Ukraine, Russia began 2010 with the opening of a new front in its energy disputes with former Soviet states. At the start of the year the Kremlin cut off oil supplies to Belarus via the Druschba (Friendship) pipeline in a spat over prices and transit fees. The pipeline supplies Belarus as well as 75% of Poland’s oil and 15% of Germany’s. The dispute, which pushed oil prices to a two-month high of $81, once again highlights the hot/cold relationship Russia has with some of its neighbours.

A man from Romania was given quite a scare when he concluded that he didn’t trust the local banks and stored his money at home instead. According to Romanian newspapers the man in question secreted €40,000 in a pair of old shoes before Christmas. But in a pre-Christmas tidy-up his wife threw away the shoes and their valuable contents. Once the mistake came to light the couple informed the police and a search began. In early January it was discovered that a woman had found the shoes. She was questioned by the authorities while residing in her new €22,000 cottage.

Marchenko plays down Eurobond option; Bank restructurings nearing completion

Integration has become the key goal as banks look to boost their wealth management revenues.

Local players and foreign firms show interest; Expansion capital and turnaround opportunities sought

The Russian aluminium company’s stock market debut seemed ill-fated from the start.

Hungary’s prime minister believes action taken by his government has helped to stabilize the country’s finances but says that the reform process must continue if it is to become a more competitive economy.

Swiss pharma's €12.66 billion bond perfect medicine in ultra-cautious market.

Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey 2010 results revealed February 8.

The Russian aluminium company’s stock market debut seemed ill-fated from the start.

Emerging Europe had a tough 2009, but as a new year dawns central bankers across the region hope it will bring back economic growth. The debate about regulation and ring-fencing capital begins here as they discuss how to prevent the region from plunging back into recession. Interviews by Chloe Hayward.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the changing nature of the interbank market, liquidity has returned to most corners of foreign exchange. But uncertainties remain over quantitative easing, Japan and the recovery. The panel gathered at the end of 2009 to find we are still in uncharted territory.

The character of responses to the recession augurs badly for a sustained recovery. The right sort of domestic consumption stimulus has not been put in place in China – the country is racing for exports again. Other regions are ill-equipped to cope; a Japan-style stasis of deflation and growth looks to be just around the corner, writes Charles Dumas of Lombard Street Research.

Regional airports, tanker operators and river shipping lines – the list of assets up for grabs in the latest privatization round is unlikely to send foreign investors into a frenzy. But fatter prey may be about. Angus McDowall reports.

BNP Paribas: The model that worked

Regulators are addressing the shortcomings that created so much damage in the global banking system. Sudip Roy assesses what impact the reforms will have on central and eastern Europe, which suffered more than any other emerging region in the crisis.

Latvia’s Parex banka is the one of the biggest victims of the financial crisis in central and eastern Europe. As its chairman tells Sudip Roy, it is pinning its recovery hopes on a good bank/bad bank strategy.

Investing in a Kazakh bank would be a risky, high-yield bet on a sustained global macroeconomic recovery. But some banks are already hoping to benefit from the country’s financial disasters. Dominic O’Neill reports from Almaty and Astana.