[Quote of the Week] “Titanic of Kazakhstan’s banking sector…”

“You as a manager of Sberbank of Russia, Mr. Gref, obviously know that any newspaper, regardless of how popular and influential it is, is incapable of shattering the financial position of such a large bank as BTA deems itself. Thus, the current management boggles in an effort to shift the responsibility to our publication. Please buy this ‘Titanic’ of Kazakhstan’s banking sector faster! We’d rather deal with you than with these managers!” Read more »

IPO Pioneers: 9 in 10 listed Russian & CIS companies worth less today than at IPO

Following a disastrous year for the capital markets, only 8 of 92 companies from Russia and the CIS finished the year with a higher market capitalization than at their time of listing.

Vimpelcom, the first ever IPO from the region, has created and retained the most value since its NYSE listing in 1996 - up 1,066%.  The other 7 companies with an increase in market capitalization were Open Investments at 456%, Mobile TeleSystems at 407%, Lebedyansky at 93%, Wimm-Bill-Dann at 40%, Pyaterochka (X5 Retail) at 17%, Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port at 14%, and Novatek at 6%.

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