MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - The international ratings agency Moody's has released updated ratings of 16 Russian regions and cities, reaffirming the existing ratings of all but one, the agency said in a press release.
The shortlisted entities under review included the City of Moscow, the City of St. Petersburg, the City of Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk Region, Krasnodar Region and other core territories. The only region under review that failed to re-affirm its credit standing was Belgorod Region, with its senior unsecured national scale rating dropping from Aa1 to Aa2 due to a budgetary controversy in the region.
Related ratings actions included a similar shortlisting for a downgrade review of a number of Russia's largest financial institutions on April 1. The list includes priority debenture debt and deposit ratings for Sberbank (currently at Baa1), VTB (Baa2), Gazprombank (Baa3), Rosselkhozbank (Baa3), a mortgage agency AIZhK (Baa1) and Vneshekonombank (Baa1).
The move came after the agency's announcement last week that the Russian government's bond rating is up for review. The downward pressure on Russian government bonds is attributed to rising geopolitical tensions over Ukraine and the subsequent susceptibility to risk caused by strained relations with the US, Moody's said in a press release.
Although the agency does not expect its own rating profiles to depend heavily on Russia's economic stance or the conflict in Ukraine, its assessment may be influenced by its stand on the current international situation. The rationale for a possible downgrade given in the official statement revolves around issues of foreign policy and the state ties of companies.
