MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA) plans next year to issue its first ever ratings of international entities, which will be based on over 60 methodology criteria, ACRA’s CEO Ekaterina Trofimova said in an interview with Sputnik.
“The ACRA-approved plan for sovereign methodology is highly diversified and includes over 60 points. Currently, we are in the active phase of development. The agency plans to start releasing its first ratings on a global scale in the beginning of 2018,” Trofimova said ahead of the upcoming Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
Trofimova explained that following the sovereign methodology's approval, work on the calibration of sectoral methodologies, which will take into account the country’s risks and risks associated with cross-border movement of funds, will begin. The conversion from one currency to another and validation of these methodologies with a sample of international companies will also follow.
The agency is currently undergoing negotiations with potential new partners in foreign states, particularly those in Asia, Trofimova added.
"We are really examining different countries to asses the possibility of working there or cooperating with local companies. Asian partners are among them," Trofimova said ahead of the Eastern Economic Forum.
The ACRA chief noted that the agency would provide information on expansion into new international markets by the end of the year.
The 2017 EEF is scheduled to take place in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok.on September 6-7. This annual event was established in 2015 as a platform for cooperation between business and political representatives from Russia and the Asia-Pacific region. In 2016, the EEF gathered 4,600 representatives from business, scientific and other communities from 56 countries.