Fixed Income
Ukrainian sovereigns recovered some of their sharp early-August losses last week on bargain-hunting and moderately encouraging statements from Russian President Putin signaling a Kremlin desire to de-escalate the crisis in Eastern Ukraine made on Thursday (Aug 14) in Crimea. A large Russian aid convoy supposedly headed for Lugansk was largely a media sideshow that had little effect on the markets. Among other developments, news appeared that President Poroshenko might meet with Putin in the coming weeks in an event arranged by the European Commission. Although the possible format of the meeting and the agenda are not public, such preparations could be considered as a positive impulse toward end the current military and diplomatic crisis. The longest outstanding Ukrainian Eurobonds with maturity in 2023 rose by 3.1% to close at 90.1/91.3 (9.2%/9.0%) and Ukraine-15s, due in just over a year from now, added 2.1% to 95.1/96.6 (11.8%/10.3%).
