NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 28, 2022--S&P Global Ratings today said that it plans to review its ratings on various Russian corporates and utilities in view of escalating geopolitical uncertainty and following the sovereign rating action it took on Feb. 25, 2022 (see "Russia Foreign Currency Rating Lowered To 'BB+' And Put On CreditWatch Negative On Risks Related To Invasion Of Ukraine," published on RatingsDirect).
On Feb. 25, 2022, we lowered our foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on Russia to 'BB+/B' from 'BBB-/A-3' and our local currency ratings to 'BBB-/A-3' from 'BBB/A-2'. We also revised downward our transfer and convertibility assessment to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'. At the same time, we placed our ratings on Russia on CreditWatch with negative implications.
Russia's military intervention into Ukraine has prompted very stringent international sanctions, which in our view carry significant and wide-ranging negative consequences for doing business in Russia as well as for Russian corporate entities' corporate liquidity, business prospects, foreign trade, access to foreign currency, and macroeconomic environment. We believe geopolitical uncertainty is currently the key factor driving Russian corporate entities' credit quality.
We believe the sovereign downgrade and the new sanctions could have significant negative implications for the creditworthiness of Russian corporate entities. We expect to publish a more detailed analysis of any impact on the credit ratings on Russian corporate entities as soon as practicable in accordance with European regulatory requirements applicable to credit rating agencies.
This report does not constitute a rating action.
S&P Global Ratings, part of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI), is the world's leading provider of independent credit risk research. We publish more than a million credit ratings on debt issued by sovereign, municipal, corporate and financial sector entities. With over 1,400 credit analysts in 26 countries, and more than 150 years' experience of assessing credit risk, we offer a unique combination of global coverage and local insight. Our research and opinions about relative credit risk provide market participants with information that helps to support the growth of transparent, liquid debt markets worldwide.
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