The Russians are here -­ at last

Tight-lipped Russian officials eventually warmed to their task at roadshows worldwide. It was Russia's return to the international capital markets, its first sovereign issue since Tsarist days. For the bankers involved in the $1 billion deal it must often have seemed like trying to resurrect the mammoth. Peter Lee reports on a complicated birth

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Even the signing ceremony was unusual in this most unusual of deals. Elated by having successfully achieved the largest-ever debut Eurobond for a sovereign credit ­ a $1 billion five-year issue ­ Russian officials in their enthusiam insisted on organizing and paying for the celebrations. This was a thank you, they said, to the international banks, which could hardly be said to have done badly out of the deal and which might normally have been expected to foot the bill for the pleasantries.

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