S&P reduces Sverdlovsk Region’s ratings from BB+ to BB

September 2, 2013. The international rating agency Standard & Poor’s affirmed Sverdlovsk Region’s credit rating at BB+, Interfax reports. The Rating Outlook is Stable. The agency expects a certain drop in the financial indicators due to a slower increase in tax revenues and greater expenses occasioned by the federal authorities’ requirements. S&P believes, however, that these factors will only have a moderate impact on the rating. Stable Outlook reflects the agency’s opinion that the careful spending policy and the economic recovery after 2013 will probably be balanced off with an

Standard & Poor’s credit rating service demoted TMK Capital’s bond ratings down to B, placing the bonds’ rating on CreditWatch, with Negative rating outlook. ‘We actually believe the Russian steel pipes manufacturer’s business solvency indicators will grow much worse this year than we had expected,’ the agency reports. ‘TMK’s rating has been demoted from B+ to B, with the same Negative rating outlook. We also had to decrease the ratings of two priority debenture bond issues, of which the first one, worth $300m, is to be retired in 2009 and the second $600m one is to be retired in 2011.

The international rating agency has recently changed the Rating Outlook for long-term credit ratings of fourteen Russian banks from Negative to Stable. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development was among these banks; in addition, Standard & Poor's affirmed the bank’s credit rating at the earlier level of B- and the national scale rating at ruBBB-. ‘These changes signify that Standard & Poor's believes the situation on the Russian banking market has grown more stable. We feel the banks have already gone through the worst as far as bad debt is concerned, while the

The rating outlook of the Russian metallurgical group Novolipetsk Iron & Steel Works (NLMK) has been changed to Negative because of a drop in profitability and borrowing characteristics. Its BBB- rating has been confirmed, S&P reports. Standard & Poor's affirmed NLMK's long-term company credit rating at BBB- and a demotion of rating outlook from Stable to Negative on July 10. The company's national scale rating was affirmed at ruAAA.

The international rating agency demoted the long-term credit rating of X5 Retail Group N.V. – the proprietor of a major retail grocery chain – and its daughter enterprises from BB- down to B+. the rating outlook is Stable. The rating of the company’s priority unsecured ruble bonds (issued by the daughter enterprise X5 Finance) was reduced from BB- to B+ and placed on CreditWatch with Negative outlook. What’s more, the ratings of X5 Finance and Agrotorg were called off altogether.