24 February 2004 10:38
Moscow bonds in demand; An unsteady record for the RTS
 This week’s big events:
February 12 - Uralsvyazinform released good preliminary 2003 results using the
Russian Accounting Standard
- Official start of presidential election campaigns
February 13 - MGTS evaluated its financial results for 2003 and 2004
- LUKoil received permission to participate in developing the
Yalamo-Samara oil fields. The company’s stock price grew by 1.15%
 February 16 - The criminal case against Vympelkom was closed due to lack of
evidence. The following day the company’s stock gained 8%.
- The government approved German Gref’s proposal to hold special
auctions in the electricity and energy industry.
February 17 - Wimm Bill Dann announced its working results for 2003.
- The Russian Federal Securities Commission allowed Norilsk Nickel to
increase the amount of its stock traded as ADS to 40%. The
company’s share price rose by 1.8%
- Rostelekom announced its results for the first nine months of 2003. The
company’s stock price grew by 0.22%.
February 18 - EES Rossiya announced its results for the first nine months of 2003
according to international accounting standards.
-Total placements on the domestic bond market reached $17 billion.
February 19 - Gazprom again began supplying natural gas to Belarus after a one-day
stoppage.
 The currency market last week was unusually calm. Dollar quotes ranged from 28.48-28.52 rubles to the dollar, and the official exchange rate remained unchanged. The Central Bank intercepted any moves to push the dollar down and held the exchange rate in the range above. Nonetheless, large amounts of hard-currency earnings kept flowing into the market and the dollar performed badly on world currency exchanges. The dollar sank versus the euro on Tuesday to a new record low.
The ruble bond market saw a small rise in quotes across the board. Trends on the currency market and events in the primary securities segment determined investor activity. On Wednesday the 18th, the Ministry of Finance placed six-month GKOs and OFZ bonds maturing in 2010. The first issue placed almost completely. However, only 20% of the OFZ issue placed, despite a secondary market premium of 10 base points.
The corporate and sub-federal bond markets last week saw record-level placements for this year. Excessive ruble liquidity led to successful auctions and a consequent burst of activity on the secondary market. At the auction of 34th-series Moscow municipal bonds, demand was three times greater than the supply, and as a result the yield on similar bonds on the secondary market fell by 0.3%. Yields on top-tier bonds on the corporate market fell by 0.15-0.2%.
 Quotes on the foreign debt securities market moved in various directions this week. Russian debt obligations followed the lead of American securities. On Tuesday, almost all activity stopped on this market, as the US celebrated President’s Day. After the short break, investor attention turned to the corporate segment. The yield on Gazprom eurobonds fell by 8 base points over the course of the week. Major purchases of Rosneft bonds sent their price upward by 2%.
The RTS Index reached a new all-time high on February 17th, closing at 655. However, the market couldn’t hold on to these gains and by the next day saw a downward correction. As a result, the market only grew by 1% for the week. The engine of this growth was Gazprom: major purchases by a Western investment fund pushed prices for the company’s stock up by 16.5%. The price for YUKOS shares lagged slightly, increasing by 7.3%. LUKoil and Sberbank also gained 4.5%.
The Financier’s Date Book
February 25 Gazprom Board of Directors meets
Krasny Vostok places 1.5 billion rubles in bonds
February 26 YUKOS Board of Directors meets
Bashkirenergo places 0.5 billion rubles in bonds
February 27 EES Rossiya Board of Directors meets
OMZ extraordinary shareholders meeting
February 28 YUKOS discusses its financial results for 2003
More in Russian >> www.expert.ru
[Expert] | 
RUSSIA IN FACTS
