The Government of Cameroon’s debt metrics have come to the fore as it gears up to negotiate a new IMF-funded programme, market participants said.

The Coordination Council of Belarus, recognised by the EU and the US as a body facilitating the peaceful transition of power in the country, has sent statements to international financial institutions warning that the proceeds of the country’s latest USD 1.25bn Eurobonds might have been used to fund state repressions and that the current government lacks the authority to raise further funding, according to documents seen by Debtwire.

A new type of court restructuring proceeding has been introduced in Poland as part of the COVID-19 crisis legislation: simplified restructuring proceedings available until June 2021, allowing the debtor to individually initiate the proceedings, said Karol Czepukojc and Pawel Dlugoborski, two counsels co-heading Baker McKenzie’s restructuring and insolvency practice in Poland.

Angola’s Eurobonds have been one of the most volatile since the advent of the coronavirus crisis. The oil exporter has been dealt a crushing three-way blow by the COVID-19 pandemic, as economic and health crises exacerbate the revenue loss from lower crude prices.

The USD 500m debt of Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri (IDO), a Turkey-based ferry company, will be divided into two as a sustainable and unsustainable loan, which will be reinstated separately on the OpCo and MidCo levels, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Joint lead managers of the Government of Belarus's USD 1.25bn Eurobonds issued in June - Citigroup, Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and Societe Generale - and secondary market trader Barclays have been sent letters urging the lenders to terminate involvement with the notes, according to the correspondence with the banks seen by Debtwire.

Political uncertainty continues to grip Lebanon after the country missed a deadline set by French president Emmanuel Macron to form a government and unlock critical financing this week. As efforts to fill a cabinet led by premier Mustafa Adib continue in earnest, we outline the main issues facing the crisis-stricken country and how they impact its USD 90bn sovereign debt restructuring.

Still reeling from the aftermath of the currency crisis in Summer 2018, Turkish corporates are poorly positioned to weather a fresh storm caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to market participants polled by Debtwire.

The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has submitted a draft law to its parliament, which is considered a reform of its existing bankruptcy legislation, introducing, amongst others, efficient debt restructuring tools.  

Oleg Bakhmatyuk told Debtwire he believes the revival of an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of a UAH 1.2bn (USD 49.6m) stabilisation loan received by VAB Bank – a bank he previously owned that was liquidated in 2015 – is “purely politically motivated”.

The Kingdom  of Bahrain enacted a new bankruptcy law in December 2018, sweeping away its previous legislation and replacing it with a thoroughly modern toolkit. The law is a revolutionary improvement compared to what existed before, said lawyers polled by Debtwire.

The Emirate of Dubai’s squeezed real estate market is dragging on the wider economy and has prompted fears there may be spill-over effects felt in related industries such as contracting and hospitality. But market participants polled by Debtwire voiced mixed views about the sector’s prospects in the coming years.

When the Tower of Lethendy, a baronial-style eight-bedroom castle near Perth, Scotland, went on the market in 2015 for more than GBP 2.5m, pop icon Taylor Swift was among those rumoured to be an interested buyer.

With few signs that a financial fix for Turkey’s debt-laden energy sector – proposed by the government earlier this year – is any closer to materialising, concern is mounting that not enough is being done to achieve an urgently needed operational turnaround in the industry, several market participants told Debtwire.