/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/190227.mbx        T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                          E U R O P E

          Wednesday, February 27, 2019, Vol. 20, No. 42

                           Headlines



A Z E R B A I J A N

INTERNATIONAL BANK: EBRD May Start Discussions Over Privatization


I R E L A N D

ST. PAUL'S: Fitch Gives 'B-(EXP)sf' Rating to Class F Debt
ST. PAUL'S: Moody Assigns '(P)B2' Rating to Class F Notes


K A Z A K H S T A N

HALYK SAVINGS BANK: S&P Affirms BB Long-Term ICR, Outlook Stable


R U S S I A

PIR BANK: Liabilities Exceed Assets, Assessment Shows
URAL TRANSPORT: Liabilities Exceed Assets, Assessment Shows


T U R K E Y

TURKEY: Hayat Varlik Expects Sales of NPLs to Rise by 33% in 2019
YILDIZ HOLDING: Plans to Sell Jacob's Cracker Unit


U N I T E D   K I N G D O M

LAURA ASHLEY: Flacks in Early Stages of Evaluating GBP20MM Bid

                           - - - - -


===================
A Z E R B A I J A N
===================

INTERNATIONAL BANK: EBRD May Start Discussions Over Privatization
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Katya Golubkova at Reuters reports that the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development may start discussions with the
International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) over its privatization later
this year, the EBRD's manager in the South Caucasus country said.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev ordered in 2015 the privatization of
the oil-rich country's biggest bank after a clean-up to get rid of
distressed assets resulting from poor management, Reuters
recounts.

Two years later the state-run IBA proposed a plan to restructure
US$3.3 billion of its debt, later receiving approval from creditors
holding 93.9% of the affected debt, Reuters notes.

The restructuring process has been completed through funds of the
Finance Ministry, which holds a stake of over 91% in the IBA,
Reuters states.

The government, on behalf of IBA, now plans to appeal against a
British court decision to back Russian lender Sberbank and asset
manager Franklin Templeton over the bank's debt restructuring,
Reuters discloses.

The EBRD said in 2018 it might be interested in buying a stake in
IBA, Reuters relays.




=============
I R E L A N D
=============

ST. PAUL'S: Fitch Gives 'B-(EXP)sf' Rating to Class F Debt
----------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has assigned St. Paul's CLO X DAC expected ratings,
as follows:

EUR248,000,000 Class A: 'AAA(EXP)sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR30,300,000 Class B-1: 'AA(EXP)sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR5,300,000 Class B-2: 'AA(EXP)sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR12,600,000 Class C-1: 'A(EXP)sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR15,800,000 Class C-2: 'A(EXP)sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR22,000,000 Class D: 'BBB-(EXP)sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR24,000,000 Class E: 'BB(EXP)sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR10,800,000 Class F: 'B-(EXP)sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR41,300,000 subordinated notes: 'NR(EXP)sf'

St. Paul's CLO X DAC is a cash flow collateralised loan obligation
(CLO). Net proceeds from the notes will be used to purchase a
EUR400 million portfolio of mainly euro-denominated leveraged loans
and bonds. The transaction will have a 4.5-year reinvestment period
and a weighted average life of 8.5 years. The portfolio of assets
will be managed by Intermediate Capital Managers Limited.

The assignment of the final ratings is contingent on the receipt of
final documents conforming to information already reviewed.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

'B' Portfolio Credit Quality

Fitch assesses the average credit quality of obligors at the 'B'
category. The Fitch-calculated weighted average rating factor
(WARF) of the underlying portfolio is 32.7.

High Recovery Expectations

At least 90% of the portfolio comprises senior secured obligations.
Recovery prospects for these assets are typically more favourable
than for second-lien, unsecured and mezzanine assets. The
Fitch-calculated weighted average recovery rate (WARR) of the
identified portfolio is 66.5%.

Diversified Asset Portfolio

The transaction includes four Fitch matrices that the manager may
choose from, corresponding to the top 10 obligor limits at 18% and
26.5% as well as maximum allowances of fixed-rate assets of 0% and
10%, respectively. The covenanted maximum exposure to the top 10
obligors for assigning the ratings is 20% of the portfolio balance.
These covenants ensure that the asset portfolio will not be exposed
to excessive obligor concentration.

Portfolio Management:

The transaction features a 4.5-year reinvestment period and
includes reinvestment criteria similar to other European
transactions'. Fitch's analysis is based on a stressed-case
portfolio with the aim of testing the robustness of the transaction
structure against its covenants and portfolio guidelines

Cash Flow Analysis

Fitch used a customised proprietary cash flow model to replicate
the principal and interest waterfalls, and the various structural
features of the transaction, as well as to assess their
effectiveness, including the structural protection provided by
excess spread diverted through the par value and interest coverage
tests

RATING SENSITIVITIES

A 125% default multiplier applied to the portfolio's mean default
rate, and with this increase added to all rating default levels,
would lead to a downgrade of up to two notches for the rated
notes.

A 25% reduction in recovery rates would lead to a downgrade of up
to five notches for the class E notes and a downgrade of up to two
notches for the other rated notes.

USE OF THIRD-PARTY DUE DILIGENCE PURSUANT TO RULE 17G-10

Form ABS Due Diligence-15E was not provided to, or reviewed by,
Fitch in relation to this rating action.

DATA ADEQUACY

The majority of the underlying assets or risk-presenting entities
have ratings or credit opinions from Fitch and/or other Nationally
Recognised Statistical Rating Organisations and/or European
Securities and Markets Authority-registered rating agencies. Fitch
has relied on the practices of the relevant groups within Fitch
and/or other rating agencies to assess the asset portfolio
information.

Overall, Fitch's assessment of the asset pool information relied
upon for the agency's rating analysis according to its applicable
rating methodologies indicates that it is adequately reliable.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The following information was used in the analysis.

  - Loan-by-loan data provided by Goldman Sachs International as at
January 9, 2019

  - Draft offering circular provided by Goldman Sachs International
as at February 19, 2019


ST. PAUL'S: Moody Assigns '(P)B2' Rating to Class F Notes
---------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following provisional ratings to notes to be issued by St. Paul's
CLO X Designated Activity Company

  - EUR 248,000,000 Class A Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2032, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

  - EUR 30,300,000 Class B-1 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2032, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

  - EUR 5,300,000 Class B-2 Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes due
2032, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

  - EUR 12,600,000 Class C-1 Senior Secured Deferrable Floating
Rate Notes due 2032, Assigned (P)A2 (sf)

  - EUR 15,800,000 Class C-2 Senior Secured Deferrable Fixed Rate
Notes due 2032, Assigned (P)A2 (sf)

  - EUR 22,000,000 Class D Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2032, Assigned (P)Baa3 (sf)

  - EUR 24,000,000 Class E Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2032, Assigned (P)Ba2 (sf)

  - EUR 10,800,000 Class F Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2032, Assigned (P)B2 (sf)

Moody's issues provisional ratings in advance of the final sale of
financial instruments, but these ratings only represent Moody's
preliminary credit opinions. Upon a conclusive review of a
transaction and associated documentation, Moody's will endeavor to
assign definitive ratings. A definitive rating (if any) may differ
from a provisional rating.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The provisional ratings reflect the risks due to defaults on the
underlying portfolio of loans given the characteristics and
eligibility criteria of the constituent assets, the relevant
portfolio tests and covenants as well as the transaction's capital
and legal structure. Furthermore, Moody's is of the opinion that
the collateral manager Intermediate Capital Managers Limited (the
"Manager"), has sufficient experience and operational capacity and
is capable of managing this CLO.

St. Paul's X Designated Activity Company is a managed cash flow
CLO. At least 90% of the portfolio must consist of senior secured
loans and senior secured bonds and up to 10% of the portfolio may
consist of unsecured senior loans, second-lien loans, mezzanine
obligations and high yield bonds. The portfolio is expected to be
at least 77.5% ramped up as of the closing date and to be comprised
predominantly of corporate loans to obligors domiciled in Western
Europe.

Intermediate Capital Managers Limited will manage the CLO. It will
direct the selection, acquisition and disposition of collateral on
behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading activity, including
discretionary trading, during the transaction's 4.5 years
reinvestment period. Thereafter, purchases are permitted using
principal proceeds from unscheduled principal payments and proceeds
from sales of credit risk, and are subject to certain
restrictions.

In addition to the eight classes of notes rated by Moody's, the
Issuer will issue EUR 41,300,000 of subordinated notes which will
not be rated.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the notes in order of seniority.

Methodology Underlying the Rating Action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
August 2017.

The Credit Ratings of the notes issued by St. Paul's CLO X
Designated Activity Company were assigned in accordance with
Moody's existing Methodology entitled "Moody's Global Approach to
Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations", dated August 2017. Please
note that on November 14, 2018, Moody's released a Request for
Comment, in which it has requested market feedback on potential
revisions to its Methodology for Collateralized Loan Obligations.
If the revised Methodology is implemented as proposed, the Credit
Rating of the notes issued by St. Paul's CLO X Designated Activity
Company may be neutrally affected.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. Intermediate Capital Managers Limited's investment
decisions and management of the transaction will also affect the
notes' performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using CDOEdge, a cash flow model
based on the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section
2.3 of the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in August 2017.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Par amount: EUR 400,000,000

Diversity Score: 47

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 2,925

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.82%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 42.75%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 8.5 years

As part of its analysis, Moody's has addressed the potential
exposure to obligors domiciled in countries with local currency
government bond ratings of A1 or below. According to the portfolio
eligibility criteria, obligors must be domiciled in a jurisdiction
which has a Moody's local currency country risk ceiling ("LCC") of
"A3" or above. In addition, according to the portfolio constraints,
the total exposure to countries with a local currency country risk
bond ceiling ("LCC") between "A1" and "A3" shall not exceed 10.0%.



===================
K A Z A K H S T A N
===================

HALYK SAVINGS BANK: S&P Affirms BB Long-Term ICR, Outlook Stable
----------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings said that it affirmed its long- and short-term
issuer credit ratings on:

-- Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan (BB/Stable/B; Kazakhstan
national scale rating 'kzA+');

-- Kaspi Bank JSC (BB-/Stable/B; Kazakhstan national scale rating
'kzA');

-- ForteBank JSC (B/Positive/B; Kazakhstan national scale rating
'kzBBB-'); and

-- Bank CenterCredit JSC (BCC; B/Stable/B; Kazakhstan national
scale rating 'kzBBB-').

S&P said, "At the same time, we lowered to 'B-' from 'B' our
long-term issuer credit ratings on ATFBank JSC and JSC Eurasian
Bank and affirmed our 'B' short-term ratings on these banks. The
outlook on these banks is stable. We also revised the Kazakhstan
national scale ratings on both banks to 'kzBB' from 'kzBB+'.

"We consider the Kazakh government to be supportive of the domestic
banking sector, and to have sufficient resources to provide
support." The government's liquid assets accounted for about 40% of
GDP at year-end 2018.

Although Kazakhstan does not have clear legislation prescribing
which banks are to be supported and how, it has no restrictions on
providing such support. The government can therefore support banks
without any limitations and without gaining any particular
approvals. It has an extensive track record of providing government
support to the banking sector in various forms since 2008.

S&P said, "However, the government's approach to providing support
to systemically important domestic banks is changing, in our
opinion. We now expect timely extraordinary government support to
be provided to fewer banks than in previous years. Although some
private banks could receive government support at the time of
stress, the timing and amount of such support is likely to be
determined on a case-by-case basis. We think the factors that would
affect the scope of any support could include the regulators' view
on the importance of the bank for the stability of the banking
sector and the real economy; the amount of support required; and
the willingness and ability of the bank's shareholders to provide
support to the afflicted bank.

"In our view, the Kazakh government has been gradually changing the
support framework to place more emphasis on encouraging
shareholders to support their respective banks at the time of
stress. The government's appetite for providing further support to
the banking sector itself has been declining."

For example, over the past six months, the government has provided
a substantial amount of support to Tsesnabank, which has been under
stress. The support included both provision of emergency liquidity
facilities and loan book purchases (which amounted to about $3
billion). However, Tsesnabank also restructured its senior
unsecured bond to extend its maturity and lower the coupon rate.
S&P considered this to be tantamount to selective default, because
the new offer was lower than the original promise to bondholders
and did not provide additional compensation.

S&P's rating affirmations on the four largest rated banks (Halyk
Savings Bank of Kazakhstan, ForteBank, Kaspi Bank, and BCC)
indicates its view that a default by any of these banks would have
serious social consequences for the Kazakh population. It might
seriously undermine the stability of the Kazakh banking system and
real economy.

These banks have a sizable combined market share in retail banking,
both in terms of retail deposits and loans, and in terms of the
overall number of people and businesses they service. Therefore,
S&P continues adding one notch to their stand-alone credit profiles
(SACPs), to reflect the potential extraordinary government support.


S&P said, "We consider Halyk Bank to have high systemic importance
due to its dominant share in all market segments in Kazakhstan. It
had around 34% of total assets, 38% of retail deposits, and 39% of
corporate deposits on Jan. 1, 2019. Halyk Bank is currently the
only bank in Kazakhstan that has to comply with additional
regulatory requirements as a systemically important bank; these
affect its capital buffers.

"We consider Kaspi Bank, BCC, and ForteBank to have moderate
systemic importance, reflecting their important role in providing
banking services to a large share of population and a significant
number of businesses, including government-related entities. On
Jan. 1, 2019, Kaspi Bank's market share, by systemwide retail
deposits, was 12.9% and it had a dominant share of unsecured
consumer lending, at about 35%."

BCC's share of retail deposits was 6.8% and ForteBank's 5.9% on
Jan. 1, 2019. Fortebank also had high market shares in retail
deposits in Astana and the Akmola region (15.8%), and in Almaty and
the Almaty region (13.7%). BCC has a large retail franchise
servicing more than 1 million retail depositors and a wide presence
in a number of regions. For example, its market share in the Almaty
region was 12.5%.

S&P said, "We downgraded ATFBank and Eurasian Bank because they are
smaller and therefore, in our view, less likely to receive
extraordinary support in a timely manner. While the government
might provide support to these banks in case of stress, it is less
clear whether this support will come in time and be sufficient to
avoid default on their senior obligations. We no longer consider
these banks as moderately systemically important and our ratings on
them do not include an additional notch for government support."

In the socially sensitive segment of retail deposits, Eurasian Bank
and ATFBank had market shares of 4.5% and 4.1%, respectively, on
Jan. 1, 2019. In S&P's view, neither Eurasian Bank nor ATFBank
plays a critical role in servicing key economic segments or
performing unique functions that cannot be undertaken by other
Kazakh banks.

The SACPs of all these banks (Halyk Bank, Kaspi Bank, BCC,
ForteBank, Eurasian Bank, and ATFBank) are unchanged.   

OUTLOOK ON HALYK

S&P said, "The stable outlook on Halyk Bank reflects our
expectation that the bank's credit profile will likely remain
broadly unchanged in the next 12 months. We expect that the bank
will continue to improve its asset quality indicators, gradually
increasing provisioning coverage and writing off its legacy problem
loans.

"We could take a negative rating action on Halyk Bank during the
next 12 months if its asset quality or capitalization deteriorated
significantly. This could happen, for example, if the bank had to
create higher-than-expected loan-loss provisions on assets it
received from Kazkommertsbank, which could cause the bank's
risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio to fall sustainably below 7%.

"We could raise the ratings on Halyk Bank during the next 12 months
if its asset quality indicators improved materially and its ratio
of problem loans to total loans was closer to that of peers."

OUTLOOK ON KASPI

S&P said, "The stable outlook reflects our view that Kaspi Bank's
risk-adjusted earnings will remain strong enough to help it
withstand elevated industry risks in Kazakhstan and maintain its
asset quality and capitalization commensurate with the current
ratings over the next 12 months. This is because we consider Kaspi
Bank to be one of the most technologically advanced banks in
Kazakhstan, enabling it to offer innovative products and customer
solutions that are more advanced than the average in the local
market. Thanks to its sizable retail franchise and strong customer
loyalty, Kaspi Bank reported net income of Kazakhstani tenge (KZT)
75.8 billion (around US$ 200 million) under International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the first nine months of 2018. This
was the second-largest result in the system and corresponds to an
annualized return on assets (ROA) of 6.6%. We expect the bank's
performance and profitability to be similarly strong in 2019.

"We could lower our ratings on Kaspi Bank in the next 12 months if
its earnings weakened materially, which we would view as a sign
that the bank's business model was less effective. A downgrade
could also be triggered if deposits failed to match lending growth,
leading to weaker funding metrics. In addition, we could take a
negative rating action if we considered the government unlikely to
consider Kaspi Bank important to the stability of the banking
sector. We would not expect the government to be willing to offer
timely extraordinary support at a time of stress in such a case.

"An upgrade of Kaspi Bank appears remote in the next 12 months. We
could consider a positive rating action if Kaspi Bank's capital
improved materially so that the RAC ratio increased sustainably
above 7%. We could also upgrade Kaspi Bank if its risk appetite
materially decreased so that its growth rate stabilized closer to
the sector average while its underwriting performance remained
strong."

OUTLOOK ON FORTEBANK

S&P said, "The positive outlook on ForteBank reflects our
expectation that the bank's track record of generating new
business, retaining its competitive position in the Kazakh banking
sector, and recovering problem loans will continue over the next 12
months. In addition, the planned acquisition of Bank Kassa Nova
would somewhat augment the bank's market share in total assets and
loans.

"We could upgrade the bank over the next 12 months if its year-end
2018 audited results show a positive track record of generating
sustainable operating revenues, recovering problem loans, and
maintaining capitalization at adequate levels. An upgrade could
also be supported by the bank completing its acquisition of Kassa
Nova on the envisaged terms.

"We could revise the outlook back to stable over the next 12 months
if the bank's business and asset quality indicators do not
strengthen further. Negative rating action could also follow if our
forecast RAC ratio decreased below 7%. This could occur if credit
costs significantly exceeded our base-case expectations, the bank
saw rapid asset expansion, or the Kassa Nova acquisition had a more
negative effect on capital than we currently expect.

"We could also take a negative rating action if we thought that the
government no longer would be willing to provide it with timely
extraordinary support at a time of stress."

OUTLOOK ON BANK CENTERCREDIT

S&P said, "The stable outlook on BCC reflects our expectation that
BCC's business and financial profiles will remain broadly unchanged
over the next 12 months.

"We could lower the rating in the next 12 months if we see a
significant decline in BCC's capitalization so that its RAC ratio
declined below 3%. This could be due to higher-than-expected loan
growth, a lack of a capital injection from the shareholder, or
material deterioration in asset quality indicators as a result of
the bank's large stock of restructured loans. In addition, we could
lower the rating if we thought that the government unlikely to
consider BCC important to the stability of the banking sector and
therefore expected it to be unwilling to provide BCC with timely
extraordinary support at a time of stress."

A positive rating action appears remote in the next 12 months but
could follow significant strengthening of the bank's capitalization
causing the RAC ratio to rise sustainably above 7% through a
capital injection or a material improvement in its profitability.

OUTLOOK ON ATFBANK

S&P said, "The stable outlook on ATFBank reflects our expectation
that ATFBank's business and financial profiles will remain broadly
unchanged over the next 12 months.

"We could lower the ratings in the next 12 months if we observed
pressure on the bank's funding and liquidity metrics or if we saw
material weakening of the bank's asset quality and capitalization.

A positive rating action is unlikely in the next 12 months.
However, we could raise our ratings on ATFBank if we observed
material improvement in its asset quality indicators, to a level
comparable with peers and if the bank increased its capital
resulting in our RAC ratio rising sustainably above 7%."

OUTLOOK ON EURASIAN BANK

S&P said, "The stable outlook on Eurasian Bank reflects our
expectations that the bank's business and financial profiles will
remain broadly unchanged over the next 12 months. The stable
outlook also reflects our view that the bank will maintain its
current adequate liquidity cushion.

"We could lower our ratings if we see a significant decline in
Eurasian Bank's capitalization, or if asset quality deteriorates
far more than we currently expect. Severe funding and liquidity
pressures with a visible risk of default could also lead to
negative rating action."

A sustainable strengthening of Eurasian Bank's asset quality and
risk profile to levels more comparable with those of its peers,
combined with a projected RAC ratio above 7% over the next 12
months could prompt us to raise the ratings.

  RATING SCORE SNAPSHOT

  Halyk Bank
  Issuer credit rating      BB/Stable/B
  SACP                      bb-
   Anchor                   b+
   Business position        Strong (+1)
   Capital and earnings     Adequate (+1)
   Risk position            Moderate (-1)
   Funding and              Above Average and
   Liquidity                Adequate (0)

  Support                   +1
    GRE support             0
    ALAC support            0
    Group support           0
    Sovereign support       +1

  Additional factors        0

  Kaspi Bank
  Issuer credit rating      BB-/Stable/B

  SACP                      b             
   Anchor                   b+
   Business position        Adequate (0)
   Capital and earnings     Moderate (0)
   Risk position            Moderate (-1)
   Funding and              Average and
   Liquidity                Adequate (0)

  Support                   +1
    GRE support             0
    ALAC support            0
    Group support           0
    Sovereign support       +1

  Additional factors        +1

  ForteBank
  Issuer credit rating     B/Positive/B

  SACP                     b-       
   Anchor                  b+
   Business position       Moderate (-1)
   Capital and earnings    Adequate (+1)
   Risk position           Weak (-2)
   Funding and             Average and
   Liquidity               Adequate (0)

  Support                  +1
   GRE support             0
   ALAC support            0
   Group support           0
   Sovereign support       +1

  Additional factors       0

  Bank CenterCredit
  Issuer credit rating     B/Stable/B
                         
  SACP                     b-          
   Anchor                  b+
   Business position       Moderate (-1)
   Capital and earnings    Weak (0)
   Risk position           Moderate (-1)
   Funding and             Average and
   Liquidity               Adequate (0)

  Support                  +1
   GRE support             0
   Group support           0
   Sovereign support       +1
   ALAC support            0

  Additional factors       0

  ATFBank
                                                        
                            To                  From
  Issuer credit rating      B-/Stable/B         B/Negative/B

  SACP                      b-                  b-
   Anchor                   b+                  b+
   Business position        Moderate (-1)       Moderate (-1)
   Capital and earnings     Moderate (0)        Moderate (0)
   Risk position            Weak (-2)           Weak (-2)
   Funding and              Average and         Average and
   Liquidity                Adequate (0)        Adequate (0)

  Support                   0                   +1
    GRE support             0                   0
    ALAC support            0                   0
    Group support           0                   0
    Sovereign support       0                   +1

  Additional factors        0                    0   
        
  Eurasian Bank
                                                        
                            To                  From
  Issuer credit rating      B-/Stable/B         B/Negative/B

  SACP                      b-                  b-     

  Support                   0                   +1
    GRE support             0                   0
    ALAC support            0                   0
    Group support           0                   0
    Sovereign support       0                   +1

  Additional factors        0                   0

  RATINGS LIST

                                      To             From
  Ratings Downgraded; Outlook Action
  ATFBank JSC
   Issuer Credit Rating               B-/Stable/B    B/Negative/B
   Kazakhstan National Scale          kzBB/--/--     kzBB+/--/--

  JSC Eurasian Bank
   Issuer Credit Rating               B-/Stable/B    B/Negative/B
   Kazakhstan National Scale          kzBB/--/--     kzBB+/--/--
   Subordinated                       CCC                CCC+
   Subordinated                       kzB+               kzBB-

  Ratings Affirmed

  Bank CenterCredit JSC
   Issuer Credit Rating               B/Stable/B
   Kazakhstan National Scale          kzBBB-/--/--

  ForteBank JSC
   Issuer Credit Rating               B/Positive/B
   Kazakhstan National Scale          kzBBB-/--/--
   Senior Unsecured                   B
   Senior Unsecured                   kzBBB-
   Subordinated                       kzBB

  Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan
   Issuer Credit Rating               BB/Stable/B
   Kazakhstan National Scale          kzA+/--/--
   Senior Unsecured                   BB

  Kaspi Bank JSC
   Issuer Credit Rating               BB-/Stable/B
   Kazakhstan National Scale          kzA/--/--
   Senior Unsecured                   BB-
   Senior Unsecured                   kzA




===========
R U S S I A
===========

PIR BANK: Liabilities Exceed Assets, Assessment Shows
-----------------------------------------------------
The provisional administration to manage the credit institution
Bank of Industrial and Investment Settlements Limited Liability
Company, or PIR Bank (further referred to as the Bank), appointed
by virtue of Bank of Russia Order No. OD-2647, dated October 12,
2018, following its banking license revocation, in the course of
examination of the Bank's financial standing has revealed
operations towards siphoning-off of assets to a total of at least
RUR3.2 billion, by replacing highly liquid assets with illiquid
securities as well by selling them.

According to the provisional administration's estimate, the Bank's
assets do not exceed RUR451.2 million, whereas liabilities to its
creditors amount to RUR2.4 billion.

These developments resulted in the Arbitration Court of the City of
Moscow recognizing the Bank as insolvent on December 12, 2018.  The
Deposit Insurance Agency State Corporation was appointed as
receiver.

The Bank of Russia submitted the information on the financial
transactions bearing the evidence of criminal offense conducted by
the Bank's executives to the Prosecutor General's Office of the
Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian
Federation and the Investigative Committee of the Russian
Federation for consideration and procedural decision-making.

The current development of the bank's status has been detailed in a
press statement released by the Bank of Russia.


URAL TRANSPORT: Liabilities Exceed Assets, Assessment Shows
-----------------------------------------------------------
The provisional administration to manage the credit institution
Public Joint-stock Company Ural Transport Bank (hereinafter, the
Bank) appointed by virtue of Bank of Russia Order No. OD-2786,
dated October 25, 2018, following the banking license revocation,
in the course of the inspection of the Bank's financial standing
established that the Bank's former management and owners conducted
operations to divert funds through lending to borrowers with
dubious creditworthiness or which might knowingly default on their
obligations for a total amount of RUR1.4 billion.

The provisional administration estimates the value of the Bank's
assets to be no more than RUR6.8 billion vs RUR8.0 billion of its
liabilities to creditors.

On December 20, 2018, the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk
Region recognized the Bank as insolvent (bankrupt).  The State
Corporation Deposit Insurance Agency was appointed as a receiver.

The Bank of Russia submitted the information on the financial
transactions bearing the evidence of criminal offense conducted by
the Bank's executives to the Prosecutor General's Office of the
Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian
Federation and the Investigative Committee of the Russian
Federation for consideration and procedural decision-making.

The current development of the bank's status has been detailed in a
press statement released by the Bank of Russia.




===========
T U R K E Y
===========

TURKEY: Hayat Varlik Expects Sales of NPLs to Rise by 33% in 2019
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Asli Kandemir and Ercan Ersoy at Bloomberg News report that
Turkey's biggest buyer of soured debt expects sales of
non-performing loans to increase by 33% this year as banks free-up
capital to cope with a surge in corporate-debt restructurings.

Hayat Varlik Yonetim AS Chief Executive Officer Hilmi Guvenal said
in an interview lenders will probably sell about TRY10 billion
(US$1.9 billion) of bad-loan portfolios this year, Bloomberg
relates.  According to Bloomberg, he said banks may receive up to
TRY500 million this year from the sale of NPLs to asset managers
such as Hayat Varlik.  There are 19 distressed-loan buyers in
Turkey, Bloomberg discloses.

The lira's crash in the second half of last year knocked the
ability of companies to repay debt, especially those in foreign
currencies, causing a deterioration in banks' asset quality,
Bloomberg states.  The ratio of bad loans to total credit was at
3.9% at the end of last year and the banking regulator has forecast
the ratio could climb to as high as 6% in 2019, Bloomberg notes.

According to Bloomberg, Mr. Guvenal said during the year, new
portfolios including loans of firms that receive protection from
bankruptcy and incomplete real-estate projects may also come up for
sale.

YILDIZ HOLDING: Plans to Sell Jacob's Cracker Unit
--------------------------------------------------
Ercan Ersoy at Bloomberg News reports that Yildiz Holding AS, a
debt laden Turkish food conglomerate, plans to sell its Jacob's
cracker unit and production facilities in the U.K. this year,
according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The owner of McVitie's digestives and Godiva chocolates may offload
the entire business or a stake to an investor, the people, as cited
by Bloomberg, said, asking not to be named because the talks are
confidential.  The people said the company is working with
Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. on the sale, Bloomberg notes.

Yildiz Holding, the world's third-largest biscuit maker, is selling
assets under the terms of a US$6.5 billion loan restructuring
agreed upon with banks last year, Bloomberg discloses.  The company
plans to divest holdings "outside our global focus of businesses,"
Bloomberg quotes Nurtac Ziyal Afridi, Yildiz Holding's chief global
strategy and M&A officer, as saying in an interview this month.

The company last week agreed to sell Asia-Pacific retail and
distribution licenses for its Godiva chocolate brand to North Asian
private equity firm MBK Partners Ltd., Bloomberg recounts.  Its
private equity unit this month signed an exclusivity accord with
Austria's RHI Holdings NV for its mining and brick business,
Bloomberg relays.



===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================

LAURA ASHLEY: Flacks in Early Stages of Evaluating GBP20MM Bid
--------------------------------------------------------------
BBC News reports that investment firm Flacks Group says it is in
the early stages of evaluating a bid for struggling retailer Laura
Ashley.

The Miami-based group said in a statement that it was in the "very
preliminary" stages of considering a GBP20 million bid for Laura
Ashley, BBC relates.

The statement comes despite the current owner's insistence it has
no plans to sell the brand, BBC notes.

Last week, Laura Ashley issued a profit warning, telling investors
that its full-year results were set to be lower than forecast amid
"difficult" trading conditions, BBC recounts.

According to BBC, the fashion and home furnishings retailer also
said it made zero profit for the last six months of 2018 as sales
fell 4.2%.

Laura Ashley, which is controlled by Malayan United Industries
(MUI), has closed 40 UK stores since 2015, BBC states.  The group
currently operates 156 stores in the UK.

According to The Telegraph's LaToya Harding, Flacks has until March
25 to make a firm offer for Laura Ashley.

However, a bid would face considerable obstacles given the
opposition of chairman Andrew Khoo, whose family controls more than
half of Laura Ashley shares, The Telegraph notes.



                           *********


S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter-Europe is a daily newsletter co-
published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless Hills,
Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA.
Marites O. Claro, Rousel Elaine T. Fernandez, Joy A. Agravante,
Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A. Chapman,
Editors.

Copyright 2019.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2754.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
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