Fitch downgrades Russian Railways, LUKoil and Gazprom

The international rating agency Fitch downgraded the rating of 13 Russian companies, it follows from a message published on the agency's website on Tuesday, January 13.

These companies include Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Atomenergoprom, Russian Railways, the Federal Grid Company of the Unified Energy System (FGC UES), and Lukoil. Their rating has been lowered from BBB to BBB-. The rating of the subsidiary of Russian Railways - FPK - was lowered from BBB- to BB +, “Sukhoi Civil Aircraft” - from BB to BB-.

The ratings of Novatek, Tatneft, Uralkali, Polyus Gold, Rostelecom and Tatneft were confirmed at BBB-, but the outlook was changed from stable to negative.

In the message, Fitch notes that the ratings of these companies were revised after the reduction of Russia's long-term credit rating from BBB to BBB-.

BBB- is the lowest rating in the category, which investors refer to as “investment”. The next stage - BB + - refers to the "speculative" level. A downgrade of Russia by at least one level will mean that it will become “trash”, that is, a non-investment level.

Source - Forbes.ru