Eastern Europe Edition

After Selling Weapons, Time to Sell Shares

CSG has made a fortune as Europe sends military hardware to Ukraine and replenishes its own stocks.

CSG announced it planned to sell shares in what could be Europe’s largest defense IPO.Photographer: Milan Jaros/Bloomberg

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By Andrea Dudik

January 16, 2026 at 5:30 AM UTC

Hi, this is Andrea Dudik in Prague. Welcome to our weekly newsletter on what’s shaping economics and investments from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. You can subscribe here.

If investors hadn’t heard of Michal Strnad before, they probably have now. The Czech billionaire has made a fortune by selling arms, and he just roused interest like few other businessmen from the region by announcing plans for what could be the largest ever initial public offering by a European defense company.