Russian Railways deal highlights importance of flexibility in volatile markets

Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs and VTB Capital put Russian Railways on track for a Euromoney Deals of the Year 2011 award

Other notable CEE bond deals were few and far between last year, even before global conditions and an ill-timed $1 billion international debut from Serbia slammed markets shut in mid-September.

Russian iron-ore producer Metalloinvest deserves a mention for a solid inaugural $750 million five-year transaction that attracted four-times oversubscription against a difficult market backdrop in July, but the final place in the 2011 winners list goes to Russian Railways for reopening the sterling market to CEE investors with an unprecedented 20-year deal.

Pavel Ilichev, deputy head of corporate finance at Russian Railways, says: 


“It was quite a risky move from our side to present such a long-term deal after a four-year gap since the last issue from a Russian credit. But we decided that with ultra-low interest rates and good liquidity as it was at the beginning of the year, it was a good opportunity to issue extra-long-term bonds to fit our capital needs.”

For full details and the story behind this deal, click here 

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