MOSCOW. Sept 18 (Interfax) - Some 200 Russian companies with combined capitalization of more than $500 million could potentially hold initial public offerings, Deutsche Bank Russia vice president Yelena Khisamova said at a conference called IPO: New Opportunities for Russian Companies in Moscow on Tuesday.

"According to our estimates, roughly 200 Russian companies with capitalization of more than $500 million that currently aren't public could potentially hold an IPO," she said.

The volume of transactions involving initial and secondary placements by Russian companies has exceeded $22 billion over the first nine months of 2007, she said.

Khisamova said the Russian stock market has also been affected by the current crisis on global stock exchanges, however it has remained quite stable.

A company's level of liquidity is a key factor right now when planning an IPO, she said. In particular, companies planning initial offerings proceed cautiously in this process, while those planning secondary placements are much calmer.

Due to the complicated situation on international stock markets, investors have lost their appetites somewhat and the level of subscription for Russian shares could be lower than in the past, while placements will most assuredly be made at the lower price boundary, she said. On the other hand, companies can expect higher quality from their bid books since the share of hedge funds has been reduced. In addition, potential IPO candidates need to be flexible and prepared for a drop in the volume of transactions if the demand on the market is unable to satisfy a company's need for capital, she said.

A volatile market is a favorable place to develop share-swapping instruments, she said. "We hope that the market will test instruments such as bonds converted into shares in the next few months," she said.