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Various Rating Actions Taken On Russian Banks; Ratings Withdrawn On EU Ban

NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) March 31, 2022--S&P Global Ratings said today that it had lowered its long-term issuer credit ratings on several Russian financial institutions, their related companies, and their debt issues to 'CC' from 'CCC-', following its downgrade of Russia on March 17, 2022. All ratings, including our 'C' short-term issuer credit ratings on these entities, remained on CreditWatch with negative implications. Subsequently, S&P Global Ratings withdrew its ratings on these banks.

The banks affected are:

  • Alfa-Bank JSC and its holding company ABH Financial Ltd.;
  • CB Renaissance Credit LLC;
  • CentroCredit Bank JSC;
  • Credit Bank of Moscow and its holding company Concern Rossium LLC;
  • Gazprombank JSC and its subsidiaries Gazprombank (Switzerland) Ltd., and Bank GPB International S.A.;
  • Bank SOYUZ;
  • RN Bank JSC;
  • Raiffeisenbank AO;
  • Russian Standard Bank JSC;
  • UniCredit Bank AO;
  • Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The downgrade of these banks follows the lowering of our transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessment on Russia to 'CC' from 'CCC-' concomitantly with the downgrade of the foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Russia to 'CC/C' from 'CCC-/C'; all sovereign ratings remain on CreditWatch negative (see "Russia Foreign And Local Currency Ratings Lowered To 'CC' On High Vulnerability To Debt Nonpayment, Still On Watch Neg," published March 17, 2022, on RatingsDirect).

We capped the foreign currency ratings of these Russian banks at the T&C level, given the numerous currency restrictions that were imposed by the Central Bank of Russia. We also lowered our local currency issuer credit ratings on the banks because we believe that their capacity to service their local currency obligations may be significantly disrupted in case of a default on foreign currency obligations. As such, we took the same rating action on the foreign currency and the local currency ratings on the banks. Our 'CC/C' ratings on these Russian banks at the time of the rating withdrawal reflect our expectation that their default is a virtual certainty, regardless of the time to default.

We had already suspended our ratings on several Russian financial institutions, their related companies, and their debt issues due to international blocking sanctions. These ratings are now also formally withdrawn. The relevant financial institutions are:

  • VTB Bank JSC and its subsidiaries VTB Capital PLC, VTB Bank (Georgia), and VTB Bank (Kazakhstan);
  • Promsvyazbank PJSC;
  • Sovcombank PJSC;
  • Krayinvestbank;
  • BANK ROSSIYA; and
  • VEB.RF and its subsidiaries Bank BelVEB OJSC and VEB-leasing JSC.

The withdrawal of all these ratings follows the decision of the European Union (EU) on March 15, 2022 to ban the provision of credit ratings to legal persons, entities, or bodies established in Russia and our ensuing announcement that we will withdraw all our outstanding ratings on relevant issuers before April 15, 2022, the deadline imposed by the EU (see "S&P Global Ratings To Withdraw Ratings On Russian Entities," March 21, 2022).

Related Criteria

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Ratings List

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * ABH Financial Ltd. * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

Alfa-Bank JSC

ABH Financial Ltd.

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C

ABH Financial Ltd.

Senior Unsecured NR CC/Watch Neg CCC-/Watch Neg

Alfa Holding Issuance PLC

Senior Unsecured NR CC/Watch Neg CCC-/Watch Neg
CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action

Alfa-Bank JSC

Commercial Paper NR C/Watch Neg

Alfa Debt Market Ltd.

Commercial Paper NR C/Watch Neg

Alfa Holding Issuance PLC

Senior Unsecured NR CC/Watch Neg
* * * * * * * * * * * * CB Renaissance Credit LLC * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

CB Renaissance Credit LLC

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C
* * * * * * * * * * * * * CentroCredit Bank JSC * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

CentroCredit Bank JSC

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * Concern Rossium LLC * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

Credit Bank of Moscow

Concern Rossium LLC

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C

CBOM Finance PLC

Senior Unsecured NR CC/Watch Neg CCC-/Watch Neg
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Gazprombank JSC * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

Gazprombank JSC

Gazprombank (Switzerland) Ltd.

Bank GPB International S.A.

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C

Gazprombank JSC

Senior Unsecured NR CC/Watch Neg CCC-/Watch Neg
Commercial Paper NR C/Watch Neg

GazInvest Finance B.V.

Senior Unsecured NR CC/Watch Neg CCC-/Watch Neg
Short-Term Debt NR C/Watch Neg

GPB Finance PLC

Commercial Paper NR C/Watch Neg
* * * * * * * * * * * * Bank SOYUZ * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

Bank SOYUZ

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * RN Bank JSC * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

RN Bank JSC

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C
* * * * * * * * * * * Raiffeisen Bank International AG * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

Raiffeisenbank AO

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C
* * * * * * * * * * * * Russian Standard Bank JSC * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

Russian Standard Bank JSC

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * UniCredit SpA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

UniCredit Bank AO

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C
* * * * * * * * Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development * * * * * * *
Downgraded; CreditWatch Update; Not Rated Action
Final To From

Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Issuer Credit Rating NR CC/Watch Neg/C CCC-/Watch Neg/C
NR -- Not rated.

Certain terms used in this report, particularly certain adjectives used to express our view on rating relevant factors, have specific meanings ascribed to them in our criteria, and should therefore be read in conjunction with such criteria. Please see Ratings Criteria at www.standardandpoors.com for further information. A description of each of S&P Global Ratings' rating categories is contained in "S&P Global Ratings Definitions" at https://www.standardandpoors.com/en_US/web/guest/article/-/view/sourceId/504352 Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect at www.capitaliq.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on S&P Global Ratings' public website at www.standardandpoors.com. Use the Ratings search box located in the left column. Alternatively, call one of the following S&P Global Ratings numbers: Client Support Europe (44) 20-7176-7176; London Press Office (44) 20-7176-3605; Paris (33) 1-4420-6708; Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-225; or Stockholm (46) 8-440-5914

Additional Contact:Financial Institutions EMEA;
Financial_Institutions_EMEA_Mailbox@spglobal.com

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