April 1 - Tsentrtelekom (Central Telecom) and Yugtelekom (Southern Telecom) announced their results for 2003 according to Russian accounting standards. Yugtelekom performed worse than expected and the company’s stock lost 0.5%.
- Nornickel announced that it had acquired 20.9% of the South African company, Gold Fields.
April 2 - Russky Standart Bank placed $150 million in three-year eurobonds at 8.75% p.a.
- Uralsvyazinform announced its preliminary financial results according to international accounting standards and its projections for 2004. The company’s stock rose by 9.4%.
- Mikhail Fradkov announced the government will state its position on auctioning power generator companies in late June. RAO EES Rossiya’s stock rose by 0.4%.
April 5 - YUKOS and Surgutneftegaz resolved the issues related to the Talakansky deposit. Surgutneftgaz stock rose by 1.6%.
- Severstal released its results for 2003 according to Russian accounting standards.
- Uralsvyazinform published its results for 2003 according to Russian accounting standards. The company’s stock rose by 3.3%.
April 6 - Sberbank announced that it will not increase dividends in 2004. The company’s stock lost 4.2%.
April 7 - Alfa Finance placed 2 billion rubles in two-year bonds.
- Ak Bars Bank placed 0.5 billion rubles in bonds.
- 5 billion rubles in OFZ bonds were auctioned as an additional placement. Yield at the cut-off price was 5.99%.

The week opened on the currency market with the dollar growing confidently due to its stronger position on world exchanges. On Monday the dollar gained three kopecks. Later, as the situation changed on the Forex market, the dollar was sent downward, losing a kopeck a day and ending up at 28.52 rubles to the dollar. Since the beginning of the new quarter, the situation on the money market has stabilized. The IBC rate has returned to its previous level of 0.5-1.5% and correspondent accounts ranged from 181-186 billion rubles.
Late last week, prices fell across all segments of the federal bond market. Investors took the stronger dollar on world markets as a signal that the American currency would soon rise on the Russian currency market. When the ruble actually did get weaker on Monday, GKO-OFZ prices fell by an average of 0.7%. Naturally, this decline did not lead to panic selling. The majority of investors took a wait-and-see stance. On Wednesday, after good news came from the currency market, cautious buying resumed. Yields on long issues fell by 10-15 base points for the week.
The negative atmosphere on the domestic currency market affected first and foremost the most liquid corporate and municipal bonds on the sub-federal bond market. Quotes for the Gazprom’s third issue fell by 68 base points in three days, while long Moscow issues lost only slightly less. In the second half of the week, the market adjusted itself and regained most of what it had lost. The MICEX Corporate Bond Index remained practically unchanged.
A bear mood dominated the eurobond market. Yields on eurobonds grew as quotes on American bonds fell. Euro-30 had gained 20 base points by week’s end.
The stock market proved pessimists wrong as the RTS Index rose by 3.3% and reached 774. Energy company stock grew even faster than the rest of the market: RAO EES gained 8.9% and Mosenergo 7.3%. Telecom stocks were also in demand, and Rostelekom gained 6%. YUKOS and Sberbank were among the outsiders this week, losing 3.4% and 2.4% respectively.

The Financier’s Date Book

April 13 Gazprom Board of Directors meets
April 14 Chuvashia places 0.5 billion rubles in bonds
              Megafon places 1.5 billion rubles in bonds
April 15 BIN Bank places 1 billion rubles in bonds